The PGP woes continue

On July 15, 2026, the federal government announced that they would be indefinitely pausing the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP), a popular family sponsorship program. Promising to continue processing applications that have already been submitted, the government expects to approve up to 15,000 people for permanent residence both this year and next.

While these numbers may look impressive at first, it’s important to note that there are over 60,000 applications in process and that processing times are almost 3 years long. For an applicant-population that skews older due to the nature of the program, including the income requirements of sponsors in Canada, these processing times are extra burdensome.