Thousands of Canadians are set to receive family sponsorship invitations. What's your experience with the program?
The federal government will begin sending invitations for sponsoring parents and grandparents for permanent residency starting July 28, but some are calling for a 'fair' and 'transparent' family reunification process.
A website was set up asking people with concerns about the Parents and Grandparents Program to urge the government to re-open the interest-to-sponsor form. A person with the handle 'A Dissapointed (sic) Canadian' wrote in a post Friday that a petition was submitted to the House of Commons, but it requires an MP to authorize it before it goes live.
The petition comes as the 2025 intake is set to open soon for 17,860 potential sponsors who submitted an interest-to-sponsor form in 2020, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). However, IRCC said it won't be opening a new interest-to-sponsor form and will only send invitations to apply to potential sponsors from the 2020 pool of submissions.
CTVNews.ca reached out to the email listed on the website for more information about who is behind the petition and website, but didn't immediately hear back.
According to information posted on the website with the petition, the program is not 'fair and transparent.'
'For the fifth year in a row, IRCC will choose applicants from the same outdated pool created in 2020, shutting out thousands of Canadians who've become eligible since then,' according to information in the FAQ of the website.
CTVNews.ca wants to hear from individuals in Canada about their experience with the Parents and Grandparents Program. Did you encounter difficulty sponsoring your parents or grandparents? If so, how long have you been waiting? Have you heard back from the government?
Do you have any concerns about the federal program and any ideas on how it can be improved? How did your experience with the program affect your family? Did the process take an emotional toll?
Share your story by emailing us at dotcom@bellmedia.ca with your name, general location and phone number in case we want to follow up. Your comments may be used in a CTVNews.ca story.
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