On June 7, 2022, the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC), announced enhancements to Canada’s super visa program.
“These enhancements will make it easier for Canadians to reunite with their parents and grandparents in Canada and will allow super visa holders to stay for a longer period of time. These changes, which come into force on July 4, 2022, will
- Increase the length of stay for super visa holders to 5 years per entry into Canada
- People who have a super visa also have the option to request to extend their stay by up to 2 years at a time while in Canada.
- Allow the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to designate international medical insurance companies to provide coverage to super visa applicants in the future
- Currently, only Canadian insurance providers can provide the necessary medical coverage that super visa applicants are required to have. Information about any designated medical insurance companies located outside of Canada will be communicated on IRCC’s website at a later date.”
This article will discuss the necessity of Enhancements of Super visa.
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Relationship between Super Visa and Parents/Grandparents Program (PGP)
in December 2011, IRCC, then under the name Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), introduced the Super Visa when the backlog of applications for parents and grandparent was approximately 165,000 individuals. In order to address the backlog and reduce processing times, IRCC introduced a moratorium on intake for Parents/Grandparents Sponsorship from November 2011 to January 2014.
By its origin, we can conclude that the Super Visa is an alternative solution to the Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Application. Up to now, this multiple-entry visitor visa provides a way for parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents to reside in Canada for up to two years on the initial entry to Canada, and is valid for 10 years.
It is safe to say that the purpose of launching Super Visa was a temporary solution during the pause period of PGP, as well as a permanent channel to distribute demands for PGP. The government felt overwhelming processing this category of applications because the number of applications far exceeded IRCC’s processing capacity and its target every year.
Processing times of PGP Parents/Grandparents Program (PGP)
By 2016, IRCC still have around 40,511 inventories of parents and grandparent sponsorship applications. Therefore in 2017, the IRCC changed the processing rule from the first-come, first-service to the random invitations from the Interest-to-Sponsor pool, hopefully to reduce the impairment that the previous processing rule caused.
In January 2019, IRCC adopted the First-come, first-served online system for PGP applications to replace lottery invitations. However, the 2019 intake process is being condemned as “profoundly discriminatory” after it took just seven minutes for people to snap up 27,000 online application spots on January 28, 2019. In the following years, IRCC goes back to lottery invitations.
The below figure sets out the numbers of admissions, inventories, and processing time of parents and grandparents sponsorship applications from 2016 to 2021.
From the figure above, we can see that adopting lottery invitations and annual caps significantly reduced the processing time of this category of applications: from around 70 months in 2016 and 2017 dropping to 19 months in 2019.
However, the process times increased again in 2020 (24 months) and 2021 (32 months). The IRCC official website provides the current PGP processing time is 34 months, even though the Interest to Sponsor pool has been closed for one year and a half since November 3, 2020.
Invitations History
As we mentioned earlier, PGP were paper-based applications prior to 2017, without invitations or Interest to Sponsor pool. The proceedings are on a first-come, first-served basis.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, IRCC released details on the new PGP intake around January of each year. During the pandemic, however, IRCC has held PGP luck draws in the falls of 2020 and 2021 from the 2020 Interest to Sponsor pool. For detailed information, please refer to the table below:
| Year | Admissions | Date of Interest to Sponsor | Date of Invitations | Number of Invitations | Cap of Admissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 17,0443 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 10,000 | paper applications on first come, first serve basis |
| 2017 | 20,495 | 2017-01-03 to 2017-02-02 | before 2017-04-25(1st round); 2017-09-06 (2nd round) | 10,000 | 10,000 | Randomized selection; 95000 Interest to Sponsor |
| 2018 | 18,030 | 2018-01-02 to 2018-02-01 | Around 2018-03-20 | 23,500 | 17,000 | Randomized selection; 93,000 Interest to Sponsor |
| 2019 | 22,011 | 2019-01-28 | Around 2019-05-03 | 27,000 | 20,000 | First-come, first service online system; over 100,000 people accessed it. |
| 2020 | 10,459 | 2020-10-13 to 2020-11-03 | Jan. 5 to 11, 2021 | 10,000 | 10,000 | Randomized selection |
| 2021 | 11,730 | 2020-10-13 to 2020-11-03 | 2021-09-23 to 2021-10-04 | 34,500 | 30,000 | Randomized selection using 2020 Interest to Sponsor Pool |
It remains unknown when IRCC will open the PGP 2022. Many people are looking forward to submitting permanent resident applications for their parents and grandparents as soon as possible.
What are the eligibility criteria for the PGP and Super Visa?
IRCC’s eligibility criteria for PGP sponsors and Super Visa are briefly given in the table below:
| Category | Parents/Grand Parents Program PGP | Super Visa |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsor / Inviter | Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, or a registered Indian under the Canadian Indian Act; | Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident |
| Be at least 18 years old; | Not specific | |
| Be residing in Canada; | Be residing in Canada; | |
| Undertaking | Sign a legal undertaking that they commit to financially supporting the sponsored individuals for 20 years and to repay any social assistance claimed by the individuals within this period. | Sign a letter to the applicant that includes:a promise of financial support for the length of your visitthe list and number of people in the household of this persona copy of this person’s Canadian citizenship or permanent resident document |
| Minimum necessary income (MNI) | The MNI requirement depends on the size of your family and where you reside in Canada. If you live outside of Quebec, you will be assessed based on your income in the past three tax years. If you live in Quebec, you will only be assessed on your income over the past 12 months. May have a co-sponsor. | Meets the MNI for the most recent tax year. |
| Others | Not required. | Have medical insurance from a designated insurance company that is:valid for at least 1 year from the date of entryat least $100,000 coveragehave proof that the medical insurance has been paid (quotes aren’t accepted) |
Compared to the PR admission target of 401,000 for 2021, IRCC increased its target numbers by around 7.6%.
With the increased processing capacity, high target, as well as the fading influence of Covid-19, we will see the most immigrants in history coming to Canada in 2022.
Table 2 provides the numbers of Admitted Permanent Residents in 2021 by Destination and Immigration Category. We can see that nearly half of Permanent Residents chose Ontario as their residing destination, and over 60% of immigrants received their permanent status through economic programs. Family members of Canadian permanent residents and citizens occupy only 20% of people who become permanent residents in 2022.
Families are at the heart of Canadian society
The Honourable Sean Fraser said, “Families are at the heart of Canadian society. The enhancements to the super visa program allow family members to reunite for longer in Canada, which helps everyday Canadian citizens and permanent residents succeed and contribute to society, while affording their parents and grandparents invaluable opportunities to spend time with their family in Canada.”
In the past decade, the super visa program has been an effective way for Canadian citizens and permanent residents to reunite with their parents and grandparent in Canada in the situation that the PGP caps are far lower than the demands. A super visa holder must have a medical insurance from a designated insurance provider to ensure his/her cost of emergency health care services does not fall upon Canadian taxpayers, which is the reason, we believe, that IRCC chose to enhance super visa program rather than increase PGP caps.
If you or your family members need assistance with applying for a super visa, our experienced immigration consultants and lawyers can assist you. Please contact our firm and make an appointment to discuss your super visa options as well as any other immigration matters over a confidential telephone or video consultation.
Permanent Residents Admitted in Canada for 2021
Table 2: Permanent Residents Admitted in 2021 by Destination and Immigration Category*
| Category / Destination | NL | PEI | NS | NB | QC | ON | MB | AK | AB | BC | YU | NT | NU | Not Stated | Sub-Total | ||
| Federal Economic – Skilled | 295 | 490 | 1,720 | 680 | 92,950 | 1,330 | 1,285 | 9,565 | 31,165 | 90 | 55 | 0 | 0 | 139,625 | |||
| Canadian Experience | 285 | 485 | 1,670 | 665 | 0 | 86,860 | 1,185 | 1,195 | 8,560 | 29,520 | 85 | 55 | 0 | 0 | 130,565 | ||
| Economic Public Policy | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 105 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 75 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 215 | |||
| Skilled Trade | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 135 | 0 | 5 | 40 | 335 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 515 | |||
| Skilled Worker | 10 | 0 | 50 | 15 | 5,850 | 145 | 85 | 935 | 1,235 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,330 | |||
| Atlantic Immigration Programs (AIP) | 410 | 265 | 2,670 | 1,580 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,925 | ||
| Rural and Northern Immigration (RNIP) | 0 | 350 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 525 | ||||||
| Federal Economic – Caregiver | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,445 | 15 | 30 | 470 | 705 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2,670 | |||
| Quebec Skilled Workers | 25,160 | 0 | 0 | 25,160 | |||||||||||||
| Federal Economic – Business | 0 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 230 | 20 | 0 | 35 | 250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 560 | ||
| Self-Employed | — | — | 5 | — | 0 | 105 | 0 | — | 15 | 50 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 175 | ||
| Start-up Business | — | — | 5 | 10 | — | 125 | 20 | — | 25 | 200 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 385 | ||
| Quebec Business Immigrants | 1,685 | 0 | 0 | 1,685 | |||||||||||||
| Provincial Nominee Program | 510 | 1,480 | 2,275 | 1,815 | 0 | 11,025 | 10,320 | 6,505 | 8,585 | 11,000 | 365 | 120 | 0 | 0 | 54,000 | ||
| Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathway | 105 | 160 | 920 | 415 | 0 | 12,935 | 1,080 | 415 | 1,695 | 6,085 | 50 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 23,885 | ||
| Economic – Total | 1,320 | 2,405 | 7,600 | 4,495 | 26,845 | 118,935 | 12,820 | 8,235 | 20,350 | 49,335 | 510 | 210 | 0 | 0 | 253,060 | ||
| Sponsored Children | 15 | 10 | 55 | 40 | 920 | 2,135 | 130 | 85 | 950 | 490 | 5 | — | 0 | 0 | 4,835 | ||
| Sponsored Extended Family Member | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 70 | 135 | 5 | 5 | 140 | 45 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 400 | ||
| Sponsored Parent or Grandparent | 15 | 0 | 40 | 15 | 1,750 | 5,425 | 400 | 390 | 1,800 | 1,870 | 5 | — | 0 | 0 | 11,710 | ||
| Sponsored Spouse or Partner | 150 | 120 | 635 | 360 | 11,130 | 28,915 | 1,805 | 1,175 | 8,035 | 11,875 | 60 | 65 | 0 | 0 | 64,325 | ||
| Sponsored Family | 180 | 130 | 730 | 415 | 13,870 | 36,610 | 2,335 | 1,655 | 10,925 | 14,285 | 75 | 75 | 0 | 0 | 81,285 | ||
| Sponsored Family – Total | 180 | 130 | 730 | 415 | 13,870 | 36,610 | 2,335 | 1,655 | 10,925 | 14,285 | 75 | 75 | 0 | 0 | 81,285 | ||
| Blended Sponsorship Refugee | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 10 | 0 | — | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75 | ||
| Government-Assisted Refugee | 460 | 70 | 395 | 300 | 975 | 3,860 | 395 | 690 | 2,155 | 1,110 | 0 | 0 | 10,410 | ||||
| Privately Sponsored Refugee | 45 | — | 155 | 60 | 635 | 4,330 | 450 | 250 | 2,900 | 675 | — | 10 | 0 | 0 | 9,510 | ||
| Resettled Refugee | 505 | 70 | 560 | 355 | 1,610 | 8,230 | 855 | 940 | 5,060 | 1,800 | — | 10 | 0 | 0 | 19,995 | ||
| Protected Person in Canada | 15 | 15 | 65 | 40 | 5,685 | 27,375 | 385 | 85 | 2,910 | 3,215 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 39,790 | ||
| Resettled Refugee & Protected Person in Canada – Total | 520 | 85 | 625 | 395 | 7,295 | 35,605 | 1,235 | 1,025 | 7,970 | 5,020 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 59,795 | ||
| All Other Immigration – Total | 40 | 10 | 70 | 15 | 2,240 | 7,185 | 180 | 40 | 765 | 665 | 5 | 0 | 40 | 410 | 11,665 | ||
| Total | 2,060 | 2,630 | 9,025 | 5,320 | 50,255 | 198,335 | 16,570 | 10,950 | 40,010 | 69,300 | 595 | 295 | 40 | 410 | 405,795 | ||
| Percentage | 0.51% | 0.65% | 2.22% | 1.31% | 12.38% | 48.88% | 4.08% | 2.70% | 9.86% | 17.08% | 0.15% | 0.07% | 0.01% | 0.10% | 4.08% | ||
*Data source: IRCC open data at Open Government.
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