December 14, 2016—Ottawa, ON – The Government of Canada considers family re-unification as one of the key immigration commitments for the families in Canada. Each year, the parent and the Grand parent programs bring together thousands of happy families together. In the last few years, the Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada limited the number of parent & Grand Parent applications it would accept for intake. This cap would typically be between 5000 to 10000 applications. Applications were treated on a first-come, first-served basis. The request for applications would typically open in early January, and the cap would be reached in under 48 hours. This caused most applicants to wait till the next year

 For 2017, the Honorable John McCallum, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, today announced changes to how sponsorship applications will be submitted under this program. Now, rather than the usual January rush to submit applications by courier or mail, those wanting to bring their parents or grandparents to Canada will now have 30 days to fill out an online form to indicate their interest. IRCC will then randomly choose 10,000 individuals from those who filled out the form, and those people will be invited to send in their complete application package. These online forms will be available starting January 3, 2017. Sponsors will have 30 days to submit the form. At the end of the 30 days, IRCC will randomly choose 10,000 sponsors and ask them to complete full applications. The online form will ask basic questions about the sponsor, including biographical and contact information. Individuals who complete the form will receive a confirmation number.