A relief news has come for Indians settled in Canada, especially Punjabis. The Canadian government has announced to accept new applications for getting permanent residence (PR) under the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) 2025, under which it will start sending invitation letters to selected applicants to sponsor their parents and grandparents from 28 July 2025. According to the information given by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), a target has been set to approve 10,000 complete applications under the PGP program this year.
This program is for those Canadian citizens, permanent residents and registered Indians who want to settle their parents or grandparents permanently in Canada. Those who receive an invitation under this program will be able to submit an application online through the Permanent Residence Portal or through their authorized representatives. During the year 2024, IRCC gave 35,700 people the opportunity to apply, of which 20,500 applications were approved. At the same time, by the end of 2023, the government had more than 40,000 sponsorship applications pending. According to the report, the average processing time of a PGP application is 24 months, and the backlog is constantly growing. Those who registered their interest for sponsorship in the year 2020 and have not yet received an invitation to apply have been encouraged to check their 2020 email account. They may get a chance this time.
