The federal government has again made it possible for Canadian immigrants to sponsor older family members still living overseas and bring them to Canada.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the complications it brings with it, Marcel Marinho of Eastman Immigration Services is impressed that the Parents and Grandparents Program, as it is called, is even happening at all.

“It was a surprise for us,” he says. “We weren’t expecting it to be launched this year but they did and it was a positive thing.”

With so many people from other countries living in the Steinbach region, Marinho notes there is always a lot of local interest in the initiative. The program began earlier this month and will remain open until Tuesday of next week. Marinho has spent recent days answering questions, collecting information, and helping immigrant families find out whether or not they meet the financial criteria necessary to qualify for the program.

Recognizing that many potential sponsors have been detrimentally impacted by the pandemic this year, Immigration Refugee Citizenship Canada has introduced a temporary public policy that eases the initial monetary burden of immigration. Typically, to prove sponsorship is a viable option, the sponsor must show they have the minimum necessary income plus an additional 30 per cent. For the 2020 tax year, however, sponsors need only have the minimum necessary income. The government this year will be accepting a maximum of 10,000 applications that will be randomly selected from the total number of applications they receive.

Marinho is pleased to see this leniency within the program. He says, in many cultures, taking care of one's elders is a deep-seated value and to not be able to do so can create intense feelings of guilt.

“The government understands that it is very important to have your family here as a support,” he says. “Because if immigrants have their parents or grandparents living here permanently it means they will probably will stay here longer and will not leave back to their home country.”

Erna Friesen is a Settlement Facilitator for Eastman Immigration Services.Settlement Facilitator Erna Friesen says some folks in southeastern Manitoba are hesitant or even hostile at the thought of the government making it easier for immigrants to move here. She says many of those apprehensions stem from widely-spread rumors that are actually quite inaccurate.

“Some people believe that immigrants come in and get everything handed to them and that somehow they will hurt our economy by taking our jobs, and costing the economy as opposed to contributing to it,” states Friesen, summing up the bulk of the usual complaints. “But they don’t just get off of the plane and have access to everything.”

The federal government has measures in place to ensure those coming from other countries are taken care of and do not cause additional strain on the medical or employment insurance systems. Friesen stresses that the Canadian-dwelling families of incoming immigrants must prove they can support the newcomers for five years and that they are reasonably healthy so they will not immediately begin relying on free health care. And in terms of jobs, she says they are helping the economy rather than hurting it.

“Immigrants will often do the jobs that most Canadians don’t want to do because they don’t see the value in them,” she states, “and sometimes they’ll do two or three at once.”

She notes immigration, facilitated through initiatives like the Parents and Grandparents Program, is good for the country and usually takes the biggest financial toll on the families themselves. With that in mind, she encourages her fellow residents to welcome new citizens with open arms.