Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Program (PGP)

Spending time with your loved ones, particularly your parents and grandparents, is perhaps one of the most amazing feelings. They’ll undoubtedly enjoy their retirement and twilight years in Canada’s beautiful embrace. You can help them come to Canada by sponsoring them through the Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Program (PGP).

What Is The Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Program?
The Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) is a one-of-a-kind immigration program that allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their parents and grandparents for Canadian citizenship, and those accepted under this program are granted permanent residency in Canada and may be eligible to seek citizenship in the future.

Who Can Sponsor Their Parents Or Grandparents?
You may sponsor your own parents and grandparents if you are:

• invited to apply,
• at least 18 years of age,
• living in Canada,
• a Canadian citizen, or
• a permanent resident of Canada, or
• a registered person in Canada as Indian under the Indian Act
• capable of financially supporting the people you desire to sponsor, and
• able to meet any and all other requirements under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations

If you live outside of Quebec and want to be a sponsor, you must promise to financially support whoever you’re sponsoring for a certain period of time. This is called an undertaking and it commits you to:

• financially support your sponsored family members for 20 years from the time they become permanent residents
• Repay any provincial social assistance your sponsored family members receive during that time

Your sponsored family members also need to agree to certain responsibilities during the undertaking period, which is called the sponsorship agreement. This means that:

• you’ll provide all of your sponsored family member’s basic needs, such as:
  • food
  • clothing
  • shelter
  • healthcare that’s not covered by public health insurance
  • utilities
  • fuel
  • household supplies, and
  • personal requirements, but
• those you sponsor must make every effort to support themselves and their families.

This agreement will remain valid for the period it covers, even in the case of:

• separation or divorce,
• rifts or disagreements,
• unemployment,
• changes of financial situations,
• or the death of the main applicant in the event that you also sponsor their family members

You’ll have to accomplish and sign a form that encloses both the undertaking and sponsorship agreement when you apply.

If you live inside of Quebec, you must meet Quebec’s immigration sponsorship requirements after you’ve been approved as a sponsor. Your income will also be assessed by the Quebec ministry that’s in charge of immigration. You must also sign an undertaking with the province of Quebec, but this agreement only covers 10 years rather than 20.

How Much Income Do I Need To Qualify For The PGP?
You, the sponsor (and your co-signer, such as your spouse or common-law partner, if you have one) must prove that your income (combined or otherwise) is enough to support all the people you’ll be financially responsible for when you become a sponsor, including you and your co-signer.

Minimum Necessary Income (MNI)
If you are invited to apply, you must show documentation of meeting the income requirements (Minimum Necessary Income) for each of the three tax years preceding the application date. Suppose you’re applying in 2021. Then the table below will show the income required for the 3 tax years right before the day you submit your application.

A lot of sponsors have taken financial hits with the COVID-19 pandemic, hence the income requirement for the tax year of 2020 has been lowered to the minimum required income instead of the usual minimum required income plus an additional 30%.

Family class sponsors will be able to count these benefits for their income calculations for the tax year of 2020, like:

• regular Employments Insurance benefits, rather than the special Employment Insurance benefits,
• Canada Emergency Response Benefits under the Employment Insurance Act or the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit Act, and
• other temporary COVID-19 benefits as long as they’re not a part of any provincial social assistance programs

However, it’s important to take note that these changes do not affect the 2018 and 2019 tax year income requirements.

Here Are Related Articles You Can Read Now

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Super Visa Canada for Parents and Grandparents
Minimum Income Requirement for Sponsors