On August 20, 2018, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that it will be ending the lottery system for the Parents and Grandparents (PGP) Sponsorship Program and will be increasing the number of accepted applications per year to 20,500 in 2019.
The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced that the government will be increasing the cap of applications from 17, 000 to 20,000 for the remainder of 2018. In 2019, the number of applications accepted to the program will increase to 20,500 and to 21,000 in 2020.
As well, the government will be implementing changes to the application process. Rather than randomly selecting the sponsors to apply, as they have previously done since 2017, the government will invite Sponsors to submit an application to sponsor their parent or grandparents based on the order in which the government receives their Interest to Sponsor forms. The process will continue until they reach the cap of 20,000 complete applications.
Those who are interested in sponsoring their parent or grandparent will have to complete an Interest to Sponsor form online at the beginning of 2019.
The changes to the PGP Sponsorship Program is a result of intense criticism received about the unfairness of the lottery system, and as a result of listening to stakeholders and examining the program, the government is implementing the changes to streamline access to the program and improve client experience.
For more information on the changes to the PGP Sponsorship Program please click the link: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2018/08/more-families-to-reunite-in-canada.html
