The Parents and Grandparents Program: Intake Report 2020 to 2022

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Key Terms

Glossary of Terms

Term	Definition
Admissions target	The planned annual target of admissions for a specific immigration program.
Application target	The number of applications the Department aims to receive in a given intake year under the parents and grandparents program.
Application window	The time prospective sponsors and applicants have to submit an application.
Intake model	The type of selection system used to determine who can submit an application and whose application will be accepted into processing.
Intake year	The year that an intake opens to new applications.
Interest to Sponsor (ITS)	A form that prospective sponsors submit to show their interest in sponsoring their parent(s) and/or grandparent(s).
Inventory	Applications in processing, expressed in applications or in persons (applicants).
Invitation to Apply (ITA)	An invitation issued to a selected prospective sponsor to submit an application.
ITA window	The time the Department takes to issue Invitations to Apply.
ITS window	The time prospective sponsors have to submit an Interest to Sponsor form.
Levels Plan	The planned immigration target and range for each immigration program for a specific calendar year.
Processing time	The time from when a complete application is received into processing to when a final decision is rendered.

Regions of Residence

Region of Residence	Provinces and Territories
Eastern Maritime Provinces	New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island
Quebec	-
Rest of Canada	All provinces and territories excluding Quebec
Ontario	-
Western and Prairie Provinces	Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan
Territories	Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon

Section 1: Overview

What is included in the Intake Report

The Intake Report presents an overview of the application intake process and statistics related to application intakes from 2020 to 2022. It also presents data from across the intake continuum, including inventory levels, processing times, admissions targets, and admissions. Proportions in the report may not add up to 100% due to rounding to the nearest whole number and statistics from different sections may not be identical due to different reporting times. Lastly, all data are preliminary estimates and are subject to change, including in subsequent reports.

Background

The admissions targets under the Levels Plan informs the planned number of applications to be finalized for each program in a year. Prior to November 2011, the parents and grandparents program used a first-in application intake model and had no limit on the submission of applications. Since the number of applicants and their family members was much greater than the admissions targets, a long inventory developed. By the end of 2011, the inventory had grown to over 79,000 applications, which included over 167,000 persons.

To reduce the inventory, a moratorium on new applications was established from November 5, 2011 to December 31, 2013. By the end of 2013, the inventory was reduced to less than 41,500 applications, equaling a little over 86,000 persons. When the program opened to new applications in 2014, an annual limit on the number of applications to be accepted into processing was introduced.

Intake Process

Beginning in 2014, Ministerial Instructions were published specifying the intake model and the number of applications to be accepted into processing for the intake year (application target). Importantly, applications can consist of more than one person since the principal applicant lists their spouse or common-law partner and/or dependent children as part of the application.

The application target (input) is set at the discretion of the Minister in consideration of the inventory size and the number of applications needed to meet admissions targets (output). The application target is the backbone of the application management system since calibrating the number of applications accepted into processing helps manage the inventory and processing times.

as described below — Image 1. Intake and admissions process

Section 2: Intake Periods

From 2020 to 2022, three intakes were conducted using the pool of ITS submissions received during the ITS period in the fall of 2020. The Department used a randomized selection model to manage the intake of applications. For the purpose of this report, intakes will be grouped into ‘intake periods’ based on the intake year:

Intake Period 1: 2020
Intake Period 2: 2021
Intake Period 3: 2022

Due to the impacts of COVID-19, the 2020 intake was delayed and these applications were received in early 2021. To see information regarding previous intakes conducted, see The Parents and Grandparents Program: Intake Report, 2014 to 2019.

Intake Periods (1-3): 2020 to 2022

Interest to Sponsor Period

In the fall of 2020, prospective sponsors had a 3 week period (from October 13 to November 3, 2020) to express their interest by submitting an online ITS form. Those who were unable to submit their interest online due to a disability were able to request an ITS form in an alternative format (regular paper, large font paper, or braille) in advance or during the online ITS period. After the ITS window closed and duplicate ITS forms were removed, a total of 203,213 unique ITS forms remained in the pool. These ITS forms were randomized into a list, which was used to issue ITAs for all intakes conducted between 2020 and 2022.

Invitation to Apply Period

For each intake, a predetermined number of ITAs were issued in the order of the randomized list. Since not all prospective sponsors who are issued an ITA submit an application, the Department issued a number of ITAs greater than the application target based on the estimated ITA uptake rate. Those who received an ITA were required to submit their application(s) within the 60 day application window.

Table 1. ITA window, by intake year
	1	2	3
date	Jan 5 to Jan 11, 2021	Sept 23 to Oct 4, 2021	Oct 12 to Oct 20, 2022
total business days	5 days	7 days	7 days

Note: These timelines may be shorter than those announced since the original timelines were based on the number of predicted business days to issue the ITAs, which included supplementary days should the Department have experienced technological issues during the issuance process.

Table 2 below shows statistics related to the ITS and ITA stages for each intake. Due to using the remaining ITS forms from 2020 in subsequent intakes, the ITA uptake rate declined each year. It is important to note a low ITA uptake rate does not limit the Department’s ability to meet the application target nor does it impact an individual prospective sponsor’s probability of being selected as a lower anticipated ITA uptake rate results in the issuance of more ITAs.

Table 2. ITS forms, ITAs issued, ITA uptake rate, and the probability of selection, by intake year
	1	2	3
ITS forms	203,213	189,813	155,313
ITAs issued	13,400	34,500	23,100
ITA uptake rate	77%	72%	68%
Probability of selection	6.6%	18.2%	14.9%

Data Source: Internal source

Estimated demand

Under a random selection model, it is possible to estimate the demand to sponsor parents and grandparents. Sponsor demand can be estimated by multiplying the ITA uptake rate by the number of unique ITS forms. The demand for parent and grandparent sponsorship is estimated by multiplying sponsor demand by the average number of persons per application submitted in that year. Figure 1 shows the estimated demand from 2017 to 2021.

Figure 1. Estimated demand, by year

Note: These data only consider demand to submit a complete application and do not consider the final decision of those applications. Demand in 2021 is based on ITS forms received in 2020 and the combined ITA uptake rate for applications received in 2021 (2020 and 2021 intakes).

*It is not possible to estimate exact demand for 2019 and 2020 since either a random selection model was not used (2019) or no applications were received (2020).

Text version: Estimated demand, by year

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Sponsor Demand	52,788	69,323	-	-	148,634
Parent and Grandparent Demand	83,405	110,917	-	-	264,855

Section 3: Complete Applications Received from 2020 to 2022

The following section compares complete applications received by intake period in relation to the application target as well as the profile of the sponsors who submitted applications. Statistics are presented by each intake and the total across the three intake periods.

How many applications were accepted into processing?

Table 3 shows the application target and number of complete applications accepted by intake period as of July 6, 2023. The Department accepted more applications into processing than the application target for the 2020 and 2022 intakes, but fell short of the application target for the 2021 intake. In addition, 166 applications received as part of the 2022 intake have not been completeness checked and are therefore not included in the table below.

Table 3. Number of complete applications received compared to the application target, by intake
	1	2	3	Total
Application target	10,000	30,000	15,000	55,000
Complete applications received	10,293	24,742	15,790	50,825
Relative difference	3%	-18%	5%	-8%

Note: Applications from the 2020 intake were received in the 2021 calendar year. Ministerial Instructions specify the maximum number of applications the Department is authorized to accept into processing in a calendar year or 12 month period. The Department may authorize the acceptance of applications above the initial maximum through revised Ministerial Instructions.

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

Principal applicants must include their family members (spouse/common-law partner and/or dependent children) on their application. Table 4 shows the number of persons (whether accompanying or not) associated with all complete applications received by intake period.

Table 4. Number of persons per complete application received, by intake
Persons / Intake Period	1	2	3	Total
Number of persons	17,588	44,828	30,224	92,640
Average per application	1.7	1.8	1.9	1.8

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

Who submitted a complete application to sponsor their parents and grandparents?

This subsection details the profile of the sponsors who submitted complete applications across intake periods based on data extracted as of July 6, 2023.

Sex

As Table 5 shows, female sponsors represented a slight majority of sponsors who submitted an application in every intake period.

Table 5. Proportion of sponsors by sex, by intake period
Sex / Intake	1	2	3	Total
Female	53%	53%	52%	53%
Male	47%	47%	48%	47%
Other	0%	0%	0%	0%

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

Age

Sponsors must be at least 18 years old. As Table 6 shows, the majority of sponsors were between 31 and 40 years old at the time they submitted their application for all intake periods.

Table 6. Proportion of sponsors by age, by intake period
Age Grouping / Intake	1	2	3	Total
30 Years or Less	16%	13%	9%	13%
31 to 40 Years Old	55%	56%	56%	56%
41 to 50 Years Old	25%	27%	29%	27%
51 Years or More	4%	5%	6%	5%

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

Lag Time

Sponsors must be a Canadian permanent resident or citizen at the time they submit their application. As Table 7 shows, a majority of sponsors obtained permanent residence in Canada ten or more years prior to the submission of their application. In addition, because the same list of ITS forms was used for all three intake years, the lag time increased year over year.

Table 7. Proportion of sponsors by lag time, by intake period
Lag Time / Intake Period	1	2	3	Total
3 years or less	24%	18%	9%	17%
4 to 6 years	21%	26%	29%	26%
7 to 9 years	1%	2%	10%	4%
10 years or more	55%	54%	52%	53%

Note: Lag time refers to the time from when a new immigrant receives permanent residence to when they submit an application to sponsor a member of the family class.

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

Immigration Class

The vast majority of sponsors (99%) immigrated to Canada as permanent residents. As Table 8 shows, the majority of immigrant sponsors arrived under the Economic Class with approximately a quarter arriving under the Family Class. Only a small proportion arrived under other immigration categories.

Table 8. Proportion of sponsors by immigration class, by intake period
Immigration Class / Intake	1	2	3	Total
Economic Class	72%	73%	72%	73%
Family Class	24%	23%	23%	23%
Other	4%	4%	3%	4%
Not available	1%	1%	1%	1%

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

Use of a Co-signer

A sponsor’s spouse or common-law partner can co-sign the undertaking to count their income towards the income requirement. As Table 9 shows, a sizable majority (64-65%) of sponsors had a spouse or common-law partner co-sign their application across all intake periods.

Table 9. Proportion of sponsors by co-signer use, by intake period
Co-signer Use / Intake	1	2	3	Total
Did not Use Co-Signer	35%	35%	36%	36%
Used Co-Signer	65%	65%	64%	64%

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

Persons per Application

The principal applicant, who must be the parent or grandparent of the sponsor, must list their spouse or common-law partner and/or dependent children on the application whether they are accompanying them to Canada or not. As Table 10 shows, the majority of sponsors included two persons on their applications with a sizable portion including a single person. While only a small portion of sponsors had more than two persons on an application, it grew over each intake period.

Table 10. Proportion of applications by number of persons, by intake period
Number of Persons / Intake	1	2	3	Total
1 person	38%	36%	34%	36%
2 persons	57%	55%	53%	55%
3 or more persons	6%	10%	13%	10%

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

Region of Residence

Table 11 shows the proportion of sponsors by region of residence. Approximately 44% of sponsors resided in the province of Ontario, followed by 42% from the Western and Prairie provinces, 12-13% from Quebec, and 1% from the Eastern Maritime provinces.

Table 11. Proportion of sponsors by region of residence, by intake period
Region / Intake	1	2	3	Total
Eastern Maritime Provinces	1%	1%	1%	1%
Quebec	13%	13%	12%	13%
Ontario	44%	44%	44%	44%
Western and Prairie Provinces	42%	42%	42%	42%
Territories	0%	0%	0%	0%

Note: For sponsors who use an immigration representative, the province or territory of the representative's address may have been captured in these statistics, which may or may not be the same as the sponsor’s.

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

Source Country

Table 12 shows the country of birth of the sponsor based on the top five countries over the three intake periods. The highest proportion of sponsors were born in India, followed by the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China. However, a sizable proportion, between 31% and 33%, were born in countries not included in the top five.

Table 12. Proportion by the sponsor’s country of birth, by intake period
Country / Intake	1	2	3	Total
India	35%	36%	37%	36%
Philippines	12%	12%	12%	12%
People's Republic of China	11%	11%	11%	11%
Iran	5%	5%	5%	5%
Pakistan	4%	4%	4%	4%
Other	33%	32%	31%	32%

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

Section 4: Processing of Applications from 2020 to 2022

The following section details the number applications processed as of August 2, 2023 based on the intake period in which they were received.

Finalized applications and decisions on applications received from 2020 to 2022

The vast majority of applications received from the 2020 intake and just over half from the 2021 intake had been finalized by August 2, 2023. Only 1% of applications received from the 2022 intake had been finalized by August 2, 2023. The vast majority of finalized applications received from all intake periods were approved.

Table 13. Number and proportion of applications finalized as of August 2, 2023, by intake period
Finalizations / Intake	1	2	3	Total
Finalized	83%	53%	1%	42%
In Processing	17%	47%	99%	58%

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

Table 14. Proportion of finalized applications by final decision as of August 2, 2023, by intake period
Decisions / Intake	1	2	3	Total
Approved	92%	95%	96%	94%
Refused	6%	3%	0%	4%
Withdrawn	2%	2%	4%	2%

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

Section 5: Processing by Year

The following section details inventory levels, processing times, and number of applications that have been processed (finalized) by calendar year as of August 2, 2023.

How many parent and grandparent applications are in the inventory?

Changes in the inventory are reflective of the relative difference between the input (total persons for complete applications received through the intake process) compared to the output (total persons from finalized applications to meet admissions targets). Therefore, the inventory grows when input is greater than output. To respect Quebec Family Class admissions targets, IRCC sets separate application finalization goals for parents and grandparents destined to Quebec and the Rest of Canada. As Figure 2 and Figure 3 show, the inventory for both Quebec and Rest of Canada fluctuated from 2018 to 2022.

Figure 2. Number of applications in the inventory, by year and region

Note: The majority of applications received from the 2022 intake were not added to the inventory until 2023.

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

Text version: Number of applications in the inventory, by year and region

	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Quebec	2,858	3,753	3,433	3,213	4,512
Rest of Canada	15,647	21,392	19,553	18,516	22,648

Figure 3. Number of persons in the inventory, by year and region

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

Text version: Number of persons in the inventory, by year and region

	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Quebec	4,963	6,454	5,877	5,628	8,951
Rest of Canada	27,448	37,212	34,028	32,446	44,009

How long does it take to process parent and grandparent applications?

The primary variable affecting processing times is the size of the inventory. With the exception of disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, increases in processing times are largely a function of a growing inventory due to an input-output imbalance. Processing times in a given year are calculated based on 80% of applications finalized in the last 12 months and are not necessarily applications received in that year. Furthermore, the start of the processing time is determined when the application has been deemed complete as opposed to when the applications is received. New applications received are placed into the processing queue and are typically processed in the order they are received.

As Figure 4 shows, processing times had been decreasing before increasing in 2019 for Quebec destined applicants and in 2020 for applicants destined to the Rest of Canada. Processing times for Quebec based applications are slightly higher since IRCC receives more complete applications destined to Quebec compared to the Rest of Canada in proportion to their respective finalization needs to meet admission targets.

Figure 4. Processing times by year (6 month intervals) and region

Note: Processing times above refer to the time in which 80% of applications were finalized and are calculated based on a 6-month rolling period.

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

Text version: Processing times by year (6 month intervals) and region

Processing Time	Quebec	Rest of Canada
January to June 2018	50	53
July to December 2018	31	32
January to June 2019	21	19
July to December 2019	25	18
January to June 2020	27	18
July to December 2020	31	25
January to June 2021	33	29
July to December 2021	39	30
January to June 2022	41	34
July to December 2022	41	38

How many parent and grandparent applications were finalized?

As Table 15 shows, finalizations increased each year due to the lessening impact of COVID-19 on processing, which had largely recovered by 2022, and increases in the admission targets.

Table 15. Number of applications and persons finalized by final decision (proportion), by year
Decisions / Year	2020	2021	2022	Total
Applications - Total	5,708	12,293	18,799	36,800
Approved	93%	95%	91%	93%
Refused	6%	4%	6%	5%
Withdrawn	2%	2%	2%	2%
Persons - Total	9,502	20,603	31,175	61,280
Approved	93%	95%	91%	93%
Refused	6%	4%	7%	6%
Withdrawn	1%	2%	2%	2%

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

As Table 16 and Table 17 show, finalizations for Quebec and the Rest of Canada increased each year from 2020 to 2022.

Table 16. Number of applications finalized by final decision (proportion), by year and region
Decisions / Year	2020	2021	2022	Total
Quebec - Total	726	1,585	1,856	4,167
Approved	88%	93%	90%	91%
Refused	9%	5%	6%	6%
Withdrawn	3%	2%	4%	3%
Rest of Canada - Total	4,982	10,708	16,943	32,633
Approved	93%	93%	91%	93%
Refused	5%	5%	6%	5%
Withdrawn	2%	2%	2%	2%

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

Table 17. Number of persons from finalized applications by final decision (proportion), by year and region
Decisions / Year	2020	2021	2022	Total
Quebec - Total	1,214	2,598	2,948	6,760
Approved	89%	94%	90%	91%
Refused	9%	5%	6%	6%
Withdrawn	2%	1%	4%	3%
Rest of Canada - Total	8,288	18,005	28,227	54,520
Approved	93%	95%	91%	93%
Refused	5%	4%	7%	5%
Withdrawn	1%	2%	2%	2%

Data source: COGNOS (MBR)

Section 6: Admissions

This section details the admission targets for the parents and grandparents program compared to the actual admissions taking into account Quebec’s authority to set their own admission targets.

How many parents and grandparents were admitted as permanent residents?

The targeted number of admissions for the parents and grandparents program is based on the Levels Plan, which sets out the planned immigration levels. Admissions include the principal applicant and accompanying family members. It is important to note that due to processing times and the time lag between approval of an application and admission to Canada, admissions in a given year are typically from applications received from previous years.

As a result of air travel disruptions and closures of IRCC processing centres in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department fell short of the low admission range in 2020 and 2021. The admission range and target for 2022 was increased in response to these shortfalls. In 2022, the Department admitted a number of parents and grandparents within the admission range.

Table 18. Parent and grandparent admissions targets and number of admissions, by year
Admissions Targets				Actual Admissions	Within Range
Year	Low	Target	High	Actual Admissions	Within Range
2020	19,000	21,000	24,000	10,461	Arrow down
2021	15,000	23,500	24,000	11,744	Arrow down
2022	19,000	25,000	31,000	27,270	─
Total	53,000	69,500	79,000	49,475	Arrow down

Note: ‘─’ = within range; ‘Arrow up’ = above range; ‘Arrow down’ = below range

Data Source: Immigration Levels Plans and Netezza_DM2 - RDM, Permanent Residents, April 30, 2023

How many parents and grandparents were admitted as permanent residents by region?

While the Government of Canada is responsible for establishing the total admission targets for the country as a whole on an annual basis, under the Canada-Quebec Accord, the government must take into consideration the number of admissions that Quebec wishes to receive in all classes, including the Family Class.

Table 19. Quebec Family Class (includes parents and grandparents) admissions targets, by year
Admissions Targets
Year	Low	High
2020	9,900	10,200
2021	9,700	10,200
2022	10,200	10,600 (+1,000)
Total	29,800	31,000

Note: 2022 high range includes 1,000 carry-over admission space from unused 2021 space. Therefore, the total number of admissions space does not include this carried-over admission space.

Data Source: Quebec Immigration Plan

Table 20. Parent and grandparent admissions by region, by year
Region / Year	2020	2021	2022	Total
Quebec	871	1,757	2,553	5,181
Rest of Canada	9,590	9,987	24,717	44,294

Data Source: Netezza_DM2 - RDM, Permanent Residents, April 30, 2023

Table 21. Proportion of parent and grandparent admissions by region, by year
Region / Year	2020	2021	2022	Total
Quebec	8%	15%	9%	10%
Rest of Canada	92%	85%	91%	90%

Data Source: Netezza_DM2 - RDM, Permanent Residents, April 30, 2023

Section 7: Conclusion

The 2020 intake represented a return to the randomized selection process used in 2017 and 2018; however, rather than launching a new ITS period each year, the Department selected potential sponsors from the remaining list of ITS submissions received in 2020 for subsequent intakes (2021 and 2022).

Demand for the program continues to grow and outpace the growth in the number of available admission space in the Levels Plan, which makes the randomized selection process an appropriate intake model for this program as it provides equal opportunity for all interested sponsors to be selected and invited to apply to sponsor their parents and grandparents.

While the Department was still able to conduct intakes from 2020 to 2022, COVID-19 had a significant impact on the number of applications finalized and therefore, the number of admissions in 2020 and 2021. This contributed to the growing inventory and longer processing times for parent and grandparent applications for both Quebec and the Rest of Canada. Despite increases in the inventory and processing times from 2019 to 2022, overall the inventory remained lower than it had been prior to 2016.

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Date modified:: 2023-10-10