September 2023

 

     IRCC has announced the re-opening of the Parents and Grandparents Program for 2023. Yet again, applicants will only be selected from the pool of submissions from 2020. Those not selected in 2020, 2021 or 2022 will be eligible for random selection.

     IRCC has not said how many applicants remain in the pool of submissions from 2020, only that there are enough that randomized selection will be needed to choose the 24,200 potential sponsors.

     This will be of great disappointment to new applicants. We do not know if IRCC will accept new applications in 2024. The 2023-2025 Immigration Levels Plan anticipates accepting approximately 34,000 new permanent residents through this program in 2024, which includes principal applicants and their spouses/parents and dependent children.

     In 2019, the Canadian Bar Association recommended a weighted lottery system so that applicants not selected in previous years would be favoured while still allowing new applicants to participate in the lottery.  IRCC cannot continue shutting out new applicants and must provide transparency about their plans for future lotteries.