Super Visa and Parent or Grandparent Sponsorship
A super visa Canada application lets parents and grandparents stay for up to 5 years at a time. Sponsorship makes them permanent residents but opens only on IRCC’s schedule. Most families should understand both before choosing either.
Tell us who you want to bring, your household size and your income position. We assess at no charge whether the super visa or sponsorship is the better route for your family, and what each would cost.
Super visa or sponsorship: the honest comparison
A super visa Canada application produces a visitor visa with a long stay and a health insurance requirement. Sponsorship makes your parent a permanent resident. The most common mistake is waiting years for one while the other was available the whole time.
| Super visa | Parent or grandparent sponsorship | |
|---|---|---|
| What it gives | Stays of up to 5 years at a time, on a visa that can allow multiple entries for a period of up to 10 years | Permanent residence, with the path to citizenship that follows |
| When you can apply | Any time. The applicant must be outside Canada when the application is submitted | Only when IRCC opens the intake, and places are limited |
| Income requirement | The inviting child or grandchild must meet or exceed the minimum necessary income for the household size | Assessed over several consecutive tax years |
| Medical insurance | Required: at least CAD 100,000 in emergency coverage, valid at least 1 year from the date of entry, and valid for each entry | Not required, because provincial health coverage follows residence |
| Immigration medical exam | Required | Required |
| Work in Canada | No | Yes |
| Access to provincial health care | No, which is exactly why the insurance is mandatory | Yes, on the province’s own terms |
Families often do both. The super visa keeps parents here while the sponsorship intake is waited out. Applying for one does not prevent the other.
Super visa Canada requirements in detail
Four things decide a super visa: the insurance policy, the host’s income, the immigration medical exam, and whether the officer accepts that the visit is genuine and temporary.
- Medical insurance. A policy from a Canadian insurance company, or from an insurer outside Canada that is authorised by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions under the Insurance Companies Act and appears on OSFI’s public list. It must provide at least CAD 100,000 in emergency coverage for health care, hospitalisation and repatriation, be valid for a minimum of one year from the date of entry, and be valid for each entry to Canada.
- The policy must be bought, not quoted. IRCC accepts a policy paid in full, or paid in instalments with a deposit. A quote is not accepted.
- Minimum necessary income. The inviting child or grandchild must meet or exceed the minimum necessary income for the household size, which counts everyone they are already responsible for plus the parents or grandparents being invited. Proof of that income accompanies the letter of invitation.
- A letter of invitation from the child or grandchild, signed, containing proof that they meet the income threshold, and listing the names and dates of birth of every family member counted in the household size.
- An immigration medical exam, completed by a panel physician.
- You must be outside Canada when the application is submitted, and the visa is printed outside Canada.
Buying insurance on price alone is the most common avoidable refusal on this route. A cheaper policy that does not meet the coverage amount, the one-year duration, the per-entry validity or the approved-insurer condition fails the application even when everything else is in order. Confirm the current requirements at IRCC’s super visa eligibility page.
The minimum necessary income figure changes with the tax year and household size, and IRCC publishes the current table. We check your household against the figure that applies on the day rather than quoting one here that may have moved.
What the government charges, before anything we charge
These are IRCC’s own fees. The insurance premium is separate and is paid to the insurer, not to IRCC.
| Cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Visitor visa, including a super visa, per person | CAD 100 |
| Biometrics, one person | CAD 85 |
| Biometrics, family of two or more applying at the same time | CAD 170 maximum |
| Immigration medical exam | Charged by the panel physician, not by IRCC |
| Medical insurance premium | Charged by the insurer. It is the largest single cost on most super visa files, because a year of coverage at CAD 100,000 for an older applicant is not cheap. |
Taken from the IRCC fee list on 5 September 2026. Sponsorship of a parent or grandparent carries its own, much larger, set of government fees.
What a super visa Canada application costs
These are our professional fees, on top of the government fees above and the insurance premium. The range on the second line reflects how different the two routes are in work.
| Service | What it covers | Professional fee |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment of your case | You send the form, we compare the super visa and sponsorship against your household size, income and timing, and tell you which route fits. | Free |
| Super visa or parent and grandparent sponsorship | A super visa sits at the lower end: the insurance review, the income evidence, the letter of invitation and the application. A sponsorship sits at the upper end: several tax years of income evidence, the undertaking, and a permanent residence application for each person. | CAD 1,350 to CAD 4,500 |
| Paid consultation | 20, 40 or 60 minutes with a senior RCIC, for families deciding between the two routes. | from CAD 120 |
Fees are professional fees only. They do not include IRCC or ESDC government fees, biometrics, medical examinations, translations, or applicable taxes.
Your journey with Canada Shaws
The same seven steps apply to every matter we take, whichever programme it is. The first two cost nothing, and the third is optional.
- Free preliminary assessment. You complete our client intake form with your background, your goals and your current circumstances. An RCIC reviews what you have provided and carries out a preliminary assessment to identify the immigration programmes or pathways that may be relevant to your situation on the information available at this stage.
- Assessment follow-up and information review. Our client representative contacts you to introduce the pathways the RCIC identified, explain our service process and professional fees, and understand your circumstances better. They may also review what you submitted, clarify anything incomplete or unclear, and confirm whether more information is needed. You can ask questions and see the available next steps.
- Optional paid RCIC consultation. After the assessment and follow-up, you decide whether you want to speak directly with an RCIC before proceeding. If your questions are complex, or you want a detailed professional discussion of the options identified, you may book a paid consultation. It is optional. You can also proceed straight to signing up if you are ready.
- Sign up with your RCIC. If you decide to proceed, you enter into a formal service agreement directly with the RCIC who will be professionally responsible for your matter. Once it is in place, the file moves into formal case preparation.
- Detailed information and document preparation. Our team collects and reviews the detailed information and supporting documents your matter requires, and guides you through preparing them.
- Application preparation and RCIC final review. The case team prepares your application package under the supervision of your RCIC: forms, supporting documents, submission letters and any other required materials. Your RCIC carries out the final professional review before submission.
- Submission, updates and next steps. After submission we keep you informed of material developments. If immigration authorities request further information or issue a decision, our team guides you through the response, the result, and what happens next.
Who will handle your file
Every file is prepared under a named licensed consultant, and you can verify either of us on the CICC public register before you pay anything.
Frederick Li
RCIC-IRB · Level 3 · College ID R506683
Authorised to represent clients before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Immigration Law Professor in the Immigration Law Program at Queen’s University (Faculty of Law) and instructor for CPD programs at Ashton College.
Jin (Cellia) Xiao
RCIC · Level 2 · College ID R512398
Founder and President of Canada Shaws since 2015, leading the team that prepares applications across the practice.
Both consultants are listed as Entitled to Practise on the CICC public register. Verify any Canadian immigration consultant at register.college-ic.ca.
Questions families ask before they apply
How long can my parents stay on a super visa?
Up to 5 years at a time, on a visa that can provide multiple entries for a period of up to 10 years. That is what distinguishes it from an ordinary visitor visa, which normally allows a stay of up to 6 months per entry.
How much insurance is required, and can I buy it abroad?
At least CAD 100,000 in emergency coverage for health care, hospitalisation and repatriation, valid for a minimum of one year from the date of entry and valid for each entry. It may come from a Canadian insurer, or from an insurer outside Canada that is authorised by OSFI under the Insurance Companies Act and listed publicly by OSFI. Super visa insurance requirements and costs covers what a qualifying policy has to include.
Can I show a quote instead of buying the policy first?
No. IRCC accepts a policy paid in full, or paid in instalments with a deposit. A quote is not accepted, and this is a common reason a first application comes back.
How does the application actually work?
It is a visitor visa application with the income test, the insurance requirement and a medical exam layered on top, and it must be submitted from outside Canada. The step-by-step super visa process walks through each stage.
Is the sponsorship intake open right now?
It opens on IRCC’s schedule and places are limited, so the answer changes from year to year, and we check the current position when we assess your case. Our coverage of the programme explains how invitations and the income requirement work, and what happens in a year when new applications are not accepted.
My income is below the threshold. Is that the end of it?
For sponsorship the income test is strict and assessed over several consecutive tax years. For a super visa there is more room, and a co-signing spouse or partner can change the picture. That difference is often the deciding factor between the two routes.
Can a super visa Canada application be refused for insurance?
Yes, and it is the most common avoidable refusal. The policy has to meet the CAD 100,000 coverage amount, the one-year duration from date of entry, the per-entry validity, and the approved-insurer condition. Buying on price alone is what fails.
Work out which super visa Canada route fits your family
Send us your household size, your income position and who you want to bring. There is no charge for the assessment: you will get back whether the super visa or sponsorship fits, whether your income clears the threshold, what a qualifying insurance policy has to look like, and what the work would cost.
Requirements described on this page are taken from the published criteria of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (and, where a page says so, Employment and Social Development Canada or the relevant province) and were checked on the date below. Immigration rules change, and the official criteria govern, so confirm the current requirement before you act on anything here.
No representative can guarantee an immigration outcome, and we do not promise one. What we commit to is a complete, correctly prepared application and a named licensed consultant responsible for it. Canada Shaws Consulting Inc. provides immigration consulting services as Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants; we are not a law firm and do not provide legal services.
Page last verified: 5 September 2026.
