Background:
Every year, Canada welcomes millions of tourists, business persons, and family visitors who inject billions of dollars into the economy, bring new ideas and energy, and create lasting commercial and social ties.
With the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic now behind us, international travel is resuming and the Government is focused upon Canada’s economic recovery. To position Canada to maximize the benefit of the movement of tourists, business persons, and family visitors, the Government is committed to reducing processing times for visitor visas, including ‘super visas’ issued to parents and grandparents allowing for an extended period of stay in Canada of up to 5 years.
The accumulated visitor visa inventory is limiting Canada’s attractiveness for tourists and business persons, in addition to keeping families separated. The present public policy supplements the Temporary Public Policy to Facilitate the Processing of Temporary Resident Visa Applications in the Inventory by facilitating the processing of ‘super visa’ applications currently in the inventory by streamlining eligibility requirements. Cumulatively, the two public policies will position Canada for a clean start and a return to pre-pandemic processing times, thereby ensuring our international competitiveness moving forward.
Therefore, I hereby establish that, pursuant to my authority under section 25.2 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (the Act), there are sufficient public policy considerations that justify the granting of exemptions from the requirements of the Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (the Regulations) listed below to foreign nationals who meet the conditions (eligibility requirements) set out below.
Conditions (eligibility requirements):
Based on public policy considerations, when processing an application for a temporary resident ‘super visa’ by a foreign national identifying as a parent or grandparent of a permanent resident or Canadian citizen in Canada, delegated officers may grant an exemption, from the requirements of the Act and Regulations identified, if the following conditions are met:
- The foreign national
- submitted, on or before January 16, 2023, an application for a temporary resident visa under section 179 of the Regulations and requested in that application that the visa be granted as a super visa in accordance with the Ministerial Instructions regarding the Parent and Grandparent Super Visa, that came into force on July 4, 2022 or the Ministerial Instructions regarding the Parent and Grandparent Super Visa, that came into force on December 1, 2011;
- in the four years preceding the date the application referred to in (i) was received, did not have a temporary resident visa, study permit, work permit, or permanent resident visa application refused, if they were not subsequently approved for an application for a temporary resident visa, work permit or study permit;
- The foreign national
- holds a temporary resident visa that was issued following facilitation under (1); and
- seeks to enter Canada as a visitor for the first time following the issuance of the temporary resident visa described in (i).
Provisions of the Act and the Regulations for which an exemption may be granted:
For the foreign national who meets the conditions listed in 1):
- paragraph 179(b) of the Regulations – the requirement for a foreign national to establish that they will leave Canada by the end of the period authorized for their stay (temporary resident visa issuance).
For the foreign national who meets the conditions listed in 2):
- the requirement in Paragraph 20(1)(b) of the Act – for a foreign national to establish that they will leave Canada by the end of the period authorized for their stay (obligation on entry);
- the requirement in subsection 22(2) of the Act – for a foreign national to establish they will leave Canada by the end of the period authorized for their stay (dual intent).
Other Admissibility and Selection Criteria
Foreign nationals eligible under this public policy are subject to all other applicable eligibility and admissibility requirements not exempted under this, or another, public policy.
Effective Date and Expiration
This public policy comes into effect upon signature.
This public policy expires on December 31, 2023, and may be revoked at any time without prior notice.
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