Canada has announced a suspension of accepting new applications of the live-in caregiver program as well as of the parent and grandparent permanent residency sponsorships under the Family Class stream owing to the ministerial direction in the Canada Gazette. The directive is meant to focus on the processing of applications that were submitted a year ago while attending to those that are current. Communications on the subject were made by Immigration Minister, Marc Miller, who pointed out that this suspension falls in line with government’s immigration policies and family reunification.
Starting from January 1, 2025, no applications for parent and grandparent sponsorships will be accepted until the further notice, according to the directive. But they can still apply for the supervisa which is a long term, multiple entry visa for parents and grandparents.
In the immigration levels plan, the government intends to welcome more than 24,300 through the parent and grandparent program in the 2024 year. Mr. Lacroix stated that the visible limit cannot exceed 15000 applications in the framework of the family reunification program. It was planned that in 2024 20 500 people will be accepted by invitation, while 35 700 people were invited to make an application.
Yet, according to the 2024 immigration report by Minister Miller there were over 40, 000 parent and grandparent sponsorship applications by the end of 2023 with the processing time being 24months average.
Besides such a halt, Canada envisages deep permanent residence caps’ cuts. It has now been reassessed to 395, 000 for 2025 and further lowered to 390, 000 in 2026 and 365, 000 in 2027. These adjustments are measures opposite to the earlier prospect of raising permanent residency access to half a million by 2025.
Immigration minister also supported the actions, claiming that the step will help to make the immigration system more predictable and adapt to the needs of the country. Immigrants are predicted to be 120,000 less in the next three years because this is strategic direction switch.
