This news is unexpected but also understandable, getting into account country's overpopulation by temporary residents. To maintain balance, the immigration system is reducing its targets for permanent residents, and the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) is one of the programs affected by these cuts.
The decision to process only the applications submitted in 2024 and to limit sponsorships to 15,000 is a measure that IRCC explains as the huge work overload.
However, there is another side of this: for many Canadian families, parents and grandparents are not just visitors. They are the ones who help with childcare, create a sense of home, and allow parents to work and build careers. Their absence places a significant burden on working parents, who now have to seek alternatives like hiring nannies, enrolling children in daycare, or even reducing their working hours.
However, Canada offers an alternative through super visas, but this is more of a temporary solution. Yes, the five-year stay sounds promising, but it cannot replace permanent resident status, which allows loved ones to feel more secure and be part of the community rather than temporary guests.
This restriction will inevitably impact many aspects of life. Stress will increase for working families, and their ability to participate fully in the economy will decline. After all, the system relies on taxes paid by working citizens, and without family support it becomes harder for them to meet their obligations to the government.
Yes, curbing immigration growth may seem necessary right now, but we must not forget that there are real people behind the numbers; people who dream of not just living in Canada but doing so close to their loved ones. Perhaps the government should seek a compromise to support families rather than separate them because strong families, after all, are the key to any county’s prosperity.
Oleksandra Melnykova, Immigration and Refugee Consultant in Canada.
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