Canadian Immigration has reopened the parent and grandparent sponsorship program, effective 4 January 2016. We are disappointed that the cap has been kept at 5,000 applications; during the October 2015 federal election, the Liberals had campaigned on doubling the permitted applications.

According to CBC News, Immigration Minister John McCallum has pledged that the 10,000 application level will be honoured, but whether this will happen later this year or in a subsequent year is not yet determined. Predictably, the opposition Conservatives and New Democrats have criticized the Minister for not meeting the 10,000 target.

This criticism is somewhat disingenuous coming from the Conservatives, considering it was their government which put in the 5,000 quota to begin with. In fairness, it should also be recalled that the Canadian government has been working to settle up to 25,000 Syrian refugees here by spring of 2016.

Here is a link to the official announcement from the Canadian Immigration department.

If you are considering sponsoring a family member under this category, time is of the essence, since the cap has been reached very quickly in past years. For assistance, contact Fogarty Law Firm now using the form on the homepage of our website at www.fogartylaw.ca.

Stephen Fogarty is an attorney assisting clients in Canadian citizenship and immigration law, as well as special legal services for musicians, at Fogarty Law Firm in Montréal.  He is Honorary Legal Advisor to the Embassy of Ireland in Canada. His law firm’s website is www.fogartylaw.ca. The views in this article are his alone and not those of any other person or organization.  This article is for information purposes only and is not intended to give or to replace legal advice.