How Much Money Do I Need To Sponsor My Parents or Grandparents?

On This Page, You Will Find:

• The short answer on the parents and grandparents income test
• Why the intake pause changes the question
• The published Minimum Necessary Income table
• PGP versus super visa: the income gap in dollars
• What income counts and what does not
• Co-signers, Quebec and the 20-year undertaking
• What sponsorship costs in government fees
• Frequently asked questions

The amount of money you need to sponsor a parent or grandparent for Canadian permanent residence is not a single number. It depends on how many people you are financially accountable for, and you must hit the threshold in each of three consecutive tax years, not just the most recent one.

There is also a second, more immediate complication. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) paused intake of new Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) applications on 15 July 2026. For most families reading this today, the practical income question is no longer the PGP threshold at all. It is the considerably lower super visa threshold.

The short answer: minimum necessary income plus 30 per cent

To sponsor a parent or grandparent, you must show an income at or above the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) for your family size. For this program specifically, MNI means the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) plus 30 per cent. That 30 per cent uplift applies only to parent and grandparent sponsorships. It does not apply to spousal or dependent-child sponsorships, and it does not apply to the super visa.

You must meet that threshold for each of the three consecutive tax years immediately before the date you apply. Failing any one of the three years is enough to sink the application. The requirement applies to sponsors in every province and territory except Quebec, where the Ministere de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Integration (MIFI) assesses income under its own rules.

Family size is counted year by year, not once. If you married, had a child, or a previous undertaking expired during the three-year window, the amount you needed in each individual year changes accordingly. IRCC recalculates family size for each of the three years from the detail in your application, so the figure you enter on the financial evaluation form is a starting point, not a determination.

The intake pause: why there is no 2026 table

On 15 July 2026 IRCC announced it was pausing intake of new PGP applications until further notice. The department is not accepting new interest-to-sponsor forms and is not issuing new invitations to apply. It continues to process applications already in the system and still plans to admit up to 15,000 people through the PGP in 2026 under the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan.

The last intake was 2025. IRCC issued 17,860 invitations from 28 July 2025, drawn from the pool of people who filed an interest-to-sponsor form back in 2020, with a target of 10,000 complete applications. The deadline to apply was 9 October 2025.

Because intake is paused, IRCC has not published a 2026 PGP income table. The table below is the 2025 intake table and is the most recent one published. Treat it as a planning benchmark, not as the figure you will be assessed against whenever intake reopens. IRCC has not announced a date for the next intake.

The published Minimum Necessary Income table

This table applied to sponsors who submitted an application between 1 January and 31 December 2025, and covers the three relevant tax years for that intake. It applies to all provinces and territories except Quebec.

The count includes yourself, your spouse or partner, your dependent children, the parents or grandparents you are sponsoring and their dependants, and anyone still covered by a previous undertaking you signed or co-signed. A Canadian citizen sponsoring two parents, with no spouse and no children, is a family of three.

PGP versus super visa: the income gap in dollars

The super visa is the open route while PGP intake is paused, and its income test is materially easier. It uses plain LICO with no 30 per cent uplift. IRCC last updated the super visa income table on 29 July 2025:

• 1 person: $30,526
• 2 people: $38,002
• 3 people: $46,720
• 4 people: $56,724
• 5 people: $64,336
• 6 people: $72,560
• 7 people: $80,784
• Each additional person, add: $8,224

Set the two side by side and the gap is stark. A family of three needs $58,456 in 2024 income to qualify under the PGP, but only $46,720 to host a super visa applicant – a difference of $11,736. At a family of four the gap widens to $14,248. At seven people it is $20,291.

The super visa test is also easier in structure, not just in amount. The PGP demands three consecutive qualifying years. The super visa asks for one. From 31 March 2026, a super visa host can qualify using either of the two tax years before applying, rather than only the most recent. From that same date a host who falls short can qualify by showing 75 per cent of the minimum and topping up the balance with the applicant’s own income.

A super visa lets a parent or grandparent stay for five years at a time, with the option to extend by up to two years while in Canada, on a multiple-entry visa valid for up to 10 years. It is temporary status, not permanent residence, and it carries its own conditions including private medical insurance. For a fuller comparison of the two routes, see our guides to the parent and grandparent super visa and to bringing parents and grandparents to Canada in 2026.

What income counts and what does not

IRCC starts from your total income on line 15000 of your Canada Revenue Agency Notice of Assessment, then subtracts amounts that must be excluded:

• provincial or territorial allowances for an instruction or training program
• social assistance from a province or territory
• payments from the Government of Canada under a resettlement assistance program
• regular Employment Insurance earnings
• Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement payments

Regular EI is excluded, but EI special benefits – maternity, parental and sickness – do count, provided they appear on your NOA. Pandemic-era supports including CERB and the Canada Recovery Benefit also count, as long as they were not part of a provincial or territorial social assistance program. Assets, potential earnings and financial help from other relatives are not considered at all.

On proof, you must supply a Notice of Assessment or Option C printout for each of the three tax years. The faster route is to sign the statement of consent on the financial evaluation form and give IRCC your Social Insurance Number, which lets the department pull your tax data directly from the CRA.

Co-signers, Quebec and the 20-year undertaking

If your own income falls short, only your spouse or common-law partner may co-sign, and their income is then added to yours. A co-signer must meet the same eligibility requirements as the sponsor, must produce their own three years of CRA proof, and is equally liable if the undertaking is not honoured. Note a trap: a co-signer is counted in your family size for all three assessment years regardless of when you married or became common-law, which pushes your required income up.

The undertaking itself runs 20 years from the day the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident – 10 years in Quebec. During that period you are responsible for their basic needs, and if they draw provincial social assistance you are in default and must repay it. That default also bars you from sponsoring anyone else.

Quebec sponsors are assessed twice. You must first meet the federal eligibility requirements, after which MIFI assesses your income against Quebec’s own scales and you file a separate undertaking with the province, along with an additional provincial processing fee. More on the wider framework in our family sponsorship overview.

What sponsorship costs in government fees

Permanent residence fees rose on 30 April 2026. Current amounts:

• Sponsorship fee: $90
• Sponsored principal applicant processing fee: $570
• Right of permanent residence fee: $600
• Accompanying spouse or partner: $660, plus $600 right of permanent residence fee
• Accompanying dependent child: $180
• Biometrics: $85 per person, capped at $170 per family

Sponsoring one parent therefore comes to $1,260 in processing and residence fees plus $85 for biometrics. Sponsoring two parents as a couple comes to $2,520 plus $170. Medical exams and police certificates are paid separately to third parties and are not set by IRCC. Quebec residents pay an additional provincial fee directly to MIFI.

For the full picture on eligibility and timelines, see our guides to parent and grandparent sponsorship and family sponsorship processing times.

Frequently Asked Questions