Question Period Note: PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS (PGP) INTAKE PROCESS

The Covid-19 pandemic is delaying the opening of the program. When will the program launch?

• The Government of Canada understands just how important it is for families to be together, particularly during these difficult times.

• That’s why we’ve taken meaningful action to ensure that the Parents and Grandparents Program is accessible and fair for all Canadians and permanent residents interested in sponsoring their parent or grandparent.

• The number of people interested in sponsoring their parents and grandparents always exceeds the number of applications we can accept. This year, we received over 200,000 interest to sponsor forms.

• For the 2020 PGP program, IRCC will use a random selection intake process. This model ensures that the process is fair and transparent, and that all interested sponsors have an equal opportunity to submit their interest to sponsor form and to be invited to apply.

If pressed

• Individuals who need a form in an alternate format can request one.

• Due to COVID-19, the launch of the 2020 PGP program was delayed to allow the Government of Canada to prioritize its efforts to contribute to the whole-of-government response to the global pandemic. As a result, fewer applications will be accepted than in previous years.

• Over the past few years, we’ve done significant work and made major changes. This includes reducing the backlog and cutting wait times. Most notably, we’ve committed to accept a maximum of 40,000 PGP applications over the next two years.

The Government of Canada sets the number of permanent residents to be admitted within each immigration category each year, which in turn determines how many applications can be processed. Family Class levels – like those in any category – cannot be unlimited as the system must meet economic and refugee objectives as well. The 2020-2022 levels plan sets the target at 21,000 parent and grandparent admissions for each year (2020, 2021 and 2022). This is a modest increase from the target of 20,500 in 2019.

• Intake for the Parents and Grandparents (PGP) program is managed through an annual cap, which limits the number of complete applications IRCC accepts for processing each year. This cap is set using Ministerial Instructions under the authority found in section 87.3 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

• Temporary Ministerial Instructions came into force on January 1, 2020, to allow IRCC time to prepare for the opening of the 2020 intake process. This means that no new interest to sponsor forms will be accepted until the new intake process is launched. Plans to open intake in April 2020 were postponed to allow the Department and potential sponsors to focus on responding to the COVID-19 crisis.

2020 PGP intake:

Invitations to apply are anticipated to be sent out at the end of December, 2020, with the expectation that applications will be received primarily between January and February, 2021.

These applications will benefit from facilitative measures with regards to the sponsor’s income. These include:

• Sponsors will not be required to demonstrate that they meet the added 30% in addition to the MNI/LICO in 2020; however, they will still need to demonstrate that they meet the plus 30% for the other applicable taxation years.
• Sponsors will be able to include income received under the Employment Insurance Act in their income calculation for the 2020 Tax year only (Sponsorship applications received under other family class categories will also benefit from the temporary measure affecting EI income as well).

Note – Due to the timing of this intake, sponsors will not be required to submit a Notice of Assessment (NOA) for the 2020 Tax year (only) at the time of application, but will be required to submit it once it becomes available. NOAs for the 2018 and 2019 tax years will be required as normal and must be submitted with the applications.

• In 2019, the intake process was based on a first-in intake model, which replaced the random selection intake process used in 2017 and 2018, in order to address public concerns regarding fairness. Previously, from 2014-2016, IRCC accepted complete applications on a first-in basis, prompting some applicants to pay high courier fees in an attempt to ensure their application was received under the cap.

• The first-in intake system opened on January 28th, 2019 at 12pm EST. Over 100,000 people accessed the Interest to Sponsor form on-line; a maximum of 27,000 interest to sponsor forms were accepted on a first-in basis. The Department invited potential sponsors to submit an application to sponsor their parents and grandparents based on the order in which their Interest to Sponsor form was received.

• Demand for the Parents and Grandparents sponsorship program remains high. For intake year 2018, after the removal of duplicates, the Department received over 93,000 interest to sponsor forms. For intake year 2017, over 95,000 individuals indicated an interest in sponsoring their parents and grandparents.

Inventory
• As of July 31, 2020, the PGP inventory is approximately 39,700 persons. This is a significant reduction from the 167,000 persons in the inventory in December 2011, but an increase from the 32,200 persons in 2017.
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Parents and Grandparent Historical Inventory of Applications (in persons)
Parents and Grandparents 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 July 2020
Total 167,000 125,600 86,000 72,000 50,700 40,500 32,200 32,400 43,700 39,700
Source: IRCC, MBR as of September 24, 2020

Parents and Grandparents Admissions (in Persons): 2011- February 2020

Parents and Grandparents 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
(Jan - July)
Admissions 14,093 21,810 32,321 18,206 15,491 17,045 20,494 18,030 22,012 6,173

Source: IRCC, MBR as of September 24, 2020

Processing Times
• In order to address high processing times and growing inventories, the Department implemented an Action Plan that placed a 2-year moratorium on intake, followed by cap on the annual number of applications the Department receives. As a result, processing times have decreased to 19 months.

Parents and Grandparents Total Processing Times (in months): 2011- July 2020

Parents and Grandparents 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 August 2019-July 2020

80% of Finalized Cases 39 53 61 70 74 71 72 40 20 19

Source: IRCC, MBR as of September 24, 2020
Processing times refers to the time in which 80% of cases finalized in the last 12 months were completed within X months or less.

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