Lottery for parent sponsorship to be replaced, more applications to be accepted
OTTAWA — The Trudeau government is scrapping an unpopular lottery system for reuniting immigrants with their parents and grandparents and is increasing the number of sponsorship applications it will accept next year.
Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen announced changes to the sponsorship program for parents and grandparents Monday, which will see the random selection process for sponsorship applications replaced with a first-come-first-served process.
The government will also accept more parent and grandparent sponsorships in 2019. The current cap of 17,000 applications will be increased to 20,000 next year.
The so-called lottery system for this program drew criticism when it was introduced last year after many potential sponsors said they felt it was unfair.