Family Sponsorship Update — June 1, 2026
Monday, June 1, 2026
As of February 2026, family sponsorship processing times have dropped, particularly for the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP), while spousal sponsorship (outland) stands at 16 months and inland at 25 months as of March 2026.
Quebec has paused acceptance of new sponsorship applications for spouses, common-law partners, and adult children until at least June 25, 2026, having reached its cap of 13,000 family applications for the 2024–2026 period.
Quebec's spousal sponsorship processing time is 37 months — more than three times longer than the 11-month average in the rest of Canada.
What You Should Do
- If you or your sponsor live in Quebec and want to sponsor a spouse, common-law partner, or adult child, do not submit a Quebec provincial application until June 25, 2026 at the earliest — the province is not accepting new applications in these categories until then. Monitor the Quebec immigration ministry website at immigration.quebec.ca for the reopening date.
- If you are sponsoring a spouse or partner from outside Quebec, use IRCC's processing time tool at canada.ca/processing-times to track your application. Current outland processing is 16 months and inland is 25 months as of March 2026.
- If your Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) application is pending, check IRCC's processing times tool for updated wait times — February 2026 data shows PGP times are declining, which may affect your planning.
Sources
Topics Covered
Spousal Sponsorship Processing Improvements: As of March 2026, outland spousal sponsorship takes 16 months and inland takes 25 months nationwide. Quebec remains a major outlier at 37 months, and has paused new applications for spouses and adult children until at least June 25, 2026.
Parents and Grandparents Program Regional Disparities: PGP processing times dropped as of February 2026 IRCC data. Quebec's pause on spousal and adult child sponsorship highlights ongoing regional disparities in family sponsorship access and processing speed.
More Family Sponsorship Updates
Family Sponsorship Update — June 11, 2026
Jun 11, 2026
Family Sponsorship Update — June 8, 2026
Jun 8, 2026
Family Sponsorship Update — June 4, 2026
Jun 4, 2026
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