Canada may have one of the most open immigration plans in the world, but one criteria in their policies leave many potential immigrants at a serious disadvantage.
Even though there is no cap to the age at which a candidate can apply for permanent residency through Express Entry in Canada, their chances fall dramatically if they are older.
Express Entry is the main way the Canadian government provides permanent residence to skilled workers.
Canada has just announced the application intake process for the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) 2022.
Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will issue invitations to apply over the next two weeks to 23,100 interested potential sponsors. IRCC has said this figure is enough to achieve its goal of accepting up to 15,000 complete applications for sponsorship under the PGP 2022. Invitations will begin later this week.
IRCC will draw from those who expressed their interest in sponsoring their parents and grandparents in autumn 2020. IRCC says there are some 155,000 potential sponsors remaining in the pool. Back then, potential sponsors were given three weeks to indicate their interest by completing a form on IRCC’s website. IRCC then held a lottery and accepted some 10,000 applications for the PGP 2020. Last year, IRCC drew from the same pool to accept some 30,000 applications for the PGP 2021.