Ministerial Instructions with respect to the processing of applications for a permanent resident visa made by parents or grandparents of a sponsor as members of the family class and the processing of sponsorship applications made in relation to those applications 

These Instructions are published in the Canada Gazette in accordance with subsection 87.3(6) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (the Act).

These Instructions are given, pursuant to section 87.3 and subsections 92(1.1) and (2) of the Act, by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration as, in the opinion of the Minister, these Instructions will best support the attainment of the immigration goals established by the Government of Canada by seeing families reunited in Canada.

Scope

These Instructions apply to applications for a permanent resident visa of sponsors’ parents or grandparents made under the Family Class, referred to in paragraphs 117(1)(c) and (d) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (the Regulations), respectively, as well as to sponsorship applications made in relation to those applications.

Conditions – interests to sponsor

The Department will accept interests to sponsor from persons who want to sponsor a parent or grandparent. In order to be accepted, the interests to sponsor must be complete and submitted to the Department during the period of time established by these Instructions and using the electronic means made available for this purpose. Duplicate interests to sponsor will be removed, keeping only the most recent one.

For the purposes of these Instructions,

(a) a working day does not include Saturdays or holidays within the meaning of subsection 35(1) of the Interpretation Act, and if New Year’s Day falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, a working day also does not include the following Monday; and

(b) in 2020, the period during which a person can indicate their interest in making a sponsorship application begins at noon, Eastern Daylight Time, on October 13, and ends at noon, Eastern Standard Time, on November 3

Interests to sponsor – submission by other means

If a potential sponsor is unable to submit an interest to sponsor by the electronic means made available by the Department due to a mental or physical disability, the Department may make an alternative format available. Any requests for an alternative format must be made between noon, Eastern Daylight Time, on September 30, and noon, Eastern Standard Time, on November 3. To be accepted, interests to sponsor submitted in an alternative format must be complete and received by the Department within twenty-five working days of the date that the alternative format was sent from the Department to the potential sponsor.

Invitations to submit a sponsorship application

Invitations to submit a sponsorship application will be issued to potential sponsors using a randomized selection process from among all non-duplicate interests to sponsor that have not yet been issued an invitation. Invitations issued by the Department are not transferable.

Number of applications to be accepted for processing in a year

Following the submission of interests to sponsor in fall 2020, removal of duplicates, randomization, and sending of invitations to apply, it is anticipated that there will be insufficient time for invited sponsors and their parents and grandparents to submit complete applications during the 2020 calendar year. In order to accommodate these factors, sponsorship applications resulting from the fall 2020 intake process will be received in early 2021.

A maximum of 10,000 sponsorship applications made in relation to applications for a permanent resident visa, which are made by sponsors’ parents or grandparents under the Family Class, will be accepted for processing in the 2021 calendar year, which begins on January 1, 2021 and ends on December 31, 2021. This maximum may be amended in accordance with any subsequent Instructions the Minister may provide.

If any applications are received before the end of December 2020, they may be counted toward the application cap of 10,000 for the 2021 calendar year.

Individuals who submit an interest to sponsor in 2020 but who are not invited to apply during the year may be given consideration in a subsequent year in accordance with any Instructions the Minister may provide.

Conditions — sponsorship applications

In order to be processed, any sponsorship application referred to in these Instructions that has not been returned under section 12 of the Regulations for not meeting the requirements of sections 10 and 11 of the Regulations — for example by not using all the applicable forms provided by the Department in the application package published on the website of the Department or by not including all information, documents and evidence referred to in paragraph 10(1)(c) of the Regulations — must meet the following conditions:

(a) the sponsorship application is made by a person who, having indicated — during the period during which they could do so — their interest in making a sponsorship application by means that have been made available by the Department for that purpose, has been invited to make the application;

(b) the sponsorship application indicates the same information, [name, date of birth, address, country of birth, copy of status in Canada document (including its number and must be one from the list of acceptable documents listed in the Guide 5772 – Application to Sponsor Parents and Grandparents, published on the website of the Department and as amended from time to time)] that was included with the interest to sponsor in relation to which the invitation to make a sponsorship application was issued by the Department, or in the case of any difference in information between the interest to sponsor and the sponsorship application, the application includes an explanation of the reason for the change in information and satisfactory evidence that the application pertains to the same potential sponsor identified on the interest to sponsor in relation to which the invitation to make a sponsorship application was issued by the Department;

(c) the sponsorship application is accompanied by the documents required by the application package published on the website of the Department, as amended from time to time; and

(d) the sponsorship application has been received by the Department within the period of 60 days after the day on which the Department sent the sponsor an invitation to make a sponsorship application. If, however, the sponsorship application and fees required to be paid pursuant to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations are received within 60 days, but some documentation required by these Instructions or the Regulations is missing, the Department shall ordinarily grant the sponsor an extension of an additional 30 days, for a total of 90 days from the date on which the Department sent the sponsor an invitation to make a sponsorship application, to submit the missing documentation. If, however, the sponsor provides satisfactory evidence that he/she was unable to submit supporting documentation within the 60- day deadline established by these Instructions due to service disruptions caused by COVID-19, then the Department shall grant the sponsor an extension of 90 days, for a total of 150 days from the date on which the Department sent the sponsor an invitation to make a sponsorship application, to submit the missing documentation. If the missing documentation is not provided within the extended timelines, the application shall not be processed.

Conditions — permanent resident visa applications

In order to be processed, any permanent resident visa application referred to in these Instructions that has not been returned under section 12 of the Regulations for not meeting the requirements of sections 10 and 11 of the Regulations — for example by not using all the applicable forms provided by the Department in the application package published on the website of the Department or by not including all information, documents and evidence referred to in paragraph 10(1)(c) of the Regulations — must meet the following conditions:

(a) the permanent resident visa application is made by an applicant sponsored by a person whose sponsorship application met all of the conditions for processing sponsorship applications established by these Instructions.

(b) the permanent resident visa application is accompanied by the documents required by the application package published on the website of the Department, as amended from time to time; and

(c) the permanent resident visa application has been received by the Department within the period of 60 days after the day on which the Department sent the sponsor an invitation to make a sponsorship application. If, however, the permanent resident visa application and fees required to be paid pursuant to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations are received within 60 days, but some documentation required by these Instructions or the Regulations is missing, the Department shall ordinarily grant the applicant an extension of an additional 30 days, for a total of 90 days after the date on which the Department sent the sponsor an invitation to make a sponsorship application, to submit the missing documentation. If, however, the applicant provides satisfactory evidence that he/she was unable to submit supporting documentation within the 60-day deadline established by these Instructions due to service disruptions caused by COVID-19, then the Department shall grant the applicant an extension of 90 days, for a total of 150 days after the date on which the Department sent the sponsor an invitation to make a sponsorship application, to submit the missing documentation. If the missing documentation is not provided within the extended timelines, the application shall not be processed.

Order for processing

Applications meeting the applicable conditions established by these Instructions are processed in the order in which they are received by the Department.

Humanitarian and compassionate requests

A request made under subsection 25(1) of the Act from outside Canada and that accompanies an application that was not accepted for processing under these Instructions will not be processed.

Disposition of applications

Any application that does not meet the applicable conditions established by these Instructions will be returned.

Coming into effect

These Instructions take effect on September 29, 2020.