Bringing your parents or grandparents to Canada as Permanent Residents is one of the most rewarding milestones for Canadian citizens and permanent residents. However, navigating IRCC’s annual intake limits, strict financial assessments, and legal undertakings requires precise preparation.

At Euro Immigration Consultants, our Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCIC) ensure your application is audit-proof, fully documented, and submitted without delay.

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The Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) is a family reunification stream managed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Successful applicants receive Canadian Permanent Resident (PR) status, granting them access to provincial healthcare, social benefits, and a pathway to Canadian citizenship.

Because annual demand exceeds available quota allocations, IRCC manages the program through an intake system that requires sponsors to meet strict financial thresholds and complete a binding sponsorship agreement.

To sponsor your parent or grandparent, you must meet the following statutory requirements:

Unlike spousal sponsorship, sponsoring a parent or grandparent requires rigorous financial documentation:

If you are waiting for an Invitation to Apply or do not want to commit to a 20-year undertaking, the Parent and Grandparent Super Visa offers an immediate, multi-entry travel option.

Who is legally permitted to co-sign a Parent and Grandparent Program (PGP) application in Canada?

Under IRCC regulations, only your legal spouse or common-law partner can act as a co-signer. Brothers, sisters, adult children, or other relatives cannot co-sign, regardless of their financial capacity or willingness to help.

Your co-signer must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or registered Indian, be at least 18 years old, reside in Canada, and not be subject to an active sponsorship default or bankruptcy. By co-signing, your spouse agrees to share joint and several liability for the full 20-year undertaking period, meaning the Canadian government can seek repayment from either of you if social assistance is claimed.

What is the exact difference between LICO and Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) for parent sponsorship?

While often used interchangeably, LICO (Low Income Cut-Off) and MNI (Minimum Necessary Income) are distinct benchmarks:

• LICO (Base Level): Established by Statistics Canada, this metric determines the income threshold below which a family spends significantly more of its income on food, shelter, and clothing. The Super Visa uses standard 100% LICO figures for a single preceding tax year.

• MNI (LICO + 30%): Under section 133(1)(j)(i)(B) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR), the PGP requires sponsors to meet LICO plus an additional 30% buffer for each of the 3 consecutive taxation years prior to application. If your combined household income falls even $1 below this threshold in any one of the three years, the sponsorship will be refused without the right of appeal.

How do changes in family size across the 3-year assessment period affect income requirements?

Your family size is assessed dynamically year-by-year, not as a single fixed number across all 3 years. You must calculate the applicable family size on December 31 of each respective tax year:

• Newborns or Dependents: If a child was born in year two of the three-year window, your family size increases for years two and three, but remains at the lower count for year one.

• Co-Signing Spouse Rule: If your spouse co-signs the application, IRCC requires that they (and any dependent children) be included in your family size count for all 3 taxation years, even if you married or established common-law status during year two or three.

• Previous Undertakings: Anyone you or your co-signer previously sponsored whose undertaking remains legally active must be counted in your family size for every applicable year.

Do non-accompanying family members count when calculating household size for LICO/MNI?

Yes. IRCC mandates that you include the principal applicant, their spouse or common-law partner, and all their dependent children in your family size count, even if they do not plan to immigrate to Canada.

For example, if you sponsor your mother but your father chooses to remain in his home country, your father must still be added to the household unit for income calculation purposes. The only exception is if your parents are legally divorced or legally separated with verifiable documentation. Failing to count non-accompanying dependents leads to miscalculated income requirements and direct application refusals.

What happens to the 20-year sponsorship undertaking if a co-signing couple separates or divorces?

Divorce, legal separation, or relationship breakdown does not cancel, void, or shorten the 20-year undertaking. Once your parents land in Canada and become permanent residents, both the primary sponsor and the former spouse remain jointly and severally bound to the Government of Canada until the 20-year term ends.

If the sponsored parents access provincial social assistance (welfare benefits) during this window, the provincial government can pursue either the sponsor or the ex-spouse—or both—for full debt recovery, regardless of any private family court agreements, separation agreements, or divorce decrees stating otherwise.

Can I sponsor my spouse’s parents under this program?

No. You cannot directly sponsor your parents-in-law. However, your spouse can sponsor their own parents while you act as an eligible co-signer to satisfy income criteria.

The 20-year undertaking is unconditional. If your sponsored parents collect provincial social assistance at any time during the 20-year period, the sponsor and co-signer remain legally liable to repay the government in full.

IRCC conducts randomized draws from the pool of valid Interest to Sponsor submissions. Because spots are capped annually, many families utilize the Super Visa while waiting for their round in the PGP lottery.

Avoid common filing mistakes, miscalculations of family size, or omissions that lead to application returns. Consult with our Mississauga-based team today.