IRCC has paused the Parents and Grandparents Program. It is not accepting new interest to sponsor forms or inviting potential sponsors to apply, until further notice. Applications already in the system continue to be processed. That pause is why many people are now looking at the super visa Canada offers as the alternative route for a longer family visit.
A super visa is not permanent residence, and it is not the same application as sponsorship. It is a long-stay visitor visa, with its own host, income and insurance requirements, described below.
This guide sets out who can host and the minimum income table. It also covers how a parent's own income can be combined with a host's, the insurance rule, and how long a stay on a super visa lasts.
Is the Parents and Grandparents Program open right now?
The Parents and Grandparents Program is currently paused. IRCC is not accepting new interest to sponsor forms and is not inviting potential sponsors to apply, until further notice. It continues, in the meantime, to process applications already submitted.
The super visa is a separate, ongoing program and is not affected by that pause. A super visa can also be applied for while a sponsorship application from an earlier intake is still pending, since the two are decided independently.
This distinction matters because the two programs lead to different outcomes. Sponsorship is a route to permanent residence; the super visa is a long-stay visitor visa, and does not by itself lead to permanent status.
Who can host and who can apply?
The host has to be the applicant's child or grandchild, whether biological or adopted, and a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or registered Indian. "Registered Indian" is a status under Canada's Indian Act, not a reference to Indian citizenship. The host also has to be at least 18, living in Canada, meet the minimum necessary income, and write and sign a letter of invitation.
The applicant, in turn, has to be outside Canada when applying, and have the visa printed at a visa office outside Canada. They also have to be admissible to Canada, complete an immigration medical exam, and show private health insurance that meets the program's requirements.
A person who does not meet these requirements, or who only wants to stay six months or less, may be eligible for a regular visitor visa instead. That visa has its own separate rules.
These host and applicant requirements are assessed together as one application. A gap on either side, whether it is the host's income or the applicant's insurance, affects the same decision.
What is the minimum income for a super visa?
The minimum income depends on the host's family size: for a family of 2, it is $38,002, in IRCC's table updated July 29, 2025.
Family size for this purpose counts the parents or grandparents being invited, the host, the host's spouse or partner, and the dependent children of both. It also counts any previously approved super visa holders the host is still responsible for. And it counts anyone the host has sponsored whose undertaking is still in effect.
| Family size | Minimum host income (CAD) |
|---|---|
| 1 | $30,526 |
| 2 | $38,002 |
| 3 | $46,720 |
| 4 | $56,724 |
| 5 | $64,336 |
| 6 | $72,560 |
| 7 | $80,784 |
| Each additional person | $8,224 |
Can parents' income count for the super visa?
Yes, in a specific way. The host can show that their income met the minimum in either of the two tax years before applying. Or they can show it was at least seventy-five percent of the minimum in the year before applying. The visiting parent's or grandparent's own income can then make up the rest.
This gives a host two paths to qualify. One is meeting the full minimum on their own income in a recent year. The other is meeting most of it and combining it with income the visiting parent or grandparent already has. Which path fits depends on the household's actual finances, not a fixed formula.
The insurance requirement
A super visa applicant has to show private health insurance valid for at least one year from the date of entry into Canada. The policy has to come from a Canadian insurance company, or from a company outside Canada that has been approved by the minister.
This insurance requirement sits alongside the medical exam and the other applicant requirements described above; all of them apply to the same application. Proof of the policy, along with the letter of invitation from the host, is part of what an application has to include.
How long can parents stay on a super visa?
A super visa applied for on or after June 22, 2023 allows a stay of five years at a time. Parents and grandparents visiting on a super visa can apply for two-year extensions while still in Canada.
A stay of this length is longer than a standard visitor visa allows, which is one reason families weigh the super visa against it. Where permanent residence remains the goal, the guide to spousal sponsorship and the family sponsorship program describe those routes instead. They lead there separately from any visitor or super visa application.
The short version
- The Parents and Grandparents Program is paused; the super visa is a separate, ongoing route that is not affected.
- The host must meet a minimum income set by family size, in a table IRCC updated July 29, 2025.
- A host who reaches seventy-five percent of the minimum can combine it with the visiting parent's or grandparent's own income.
- The applicant needs private health insurance valid for at least one year, plus an immigration medical exam.
- A super visa applied for since June 22, 2023 allows stays of five years at a time, with two-year extensions available.
Every figure on this page is cited to the government source it was read from, and was checked on September 19, 2026. Rules change, and a source is the authority where this page and the source disagree. This guide is general information about how the process works, not immigration advice about your own situation, and reading it creates no consultant-client relationship.