Quebec's two-year cap on family reunification sponsorships expires on June 25, 2026 — and by that same date, the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration has promised to announce what comes next. For thousands of Quebec residents waiting to sponsor a spouse, partner, parent, or grandparent, the next 23 days will determine whether the door reopens, stays shut longer, or reopens with different rules.
What's expiring
In June 2024, MIFI imposed a hard cap on the number of family sponsorship undertaking applications it would receive over the next two years: 13,000 applications total for the reception window from June 26, 2024 to June 25, 2026.
That cap was hit in mid-2025 across most categories. Since then, MIFI has refused to accept new undertaking applications for the affected family members — any application submitted after the cap was reached has been returned without processing.
The categories that hit the limit and have been paused include:
- Sponsorships for spouses, common-law spouses, and conjugal partners
- Sponsorships for dependent children aged 18 or older
- Sponsorships for parents and grandparents
- Sponsorships for other family members listed under Quebec's family reunification rules
One category that was not paused: sponsorships for dependent children under age 18. MIFI has continued accepting and processing those applications throughout the reception period.
What MIFI has actually committed to
According to MIFI's reception rules page, the ministry has committed to one thing only: announcing its next decision on family reunification applications by June 25, 2026.
What MIFI has not committed to:
- A new reception period starting June 26.
- Maintained or expanded caps in the next phase.
- The same categories being eligible.
- The same income thresholds, processing fees, or document requirements.
Sponsors hoping that June 26 will be the day applications reopen are reading more into the deadline than MIFI has said. The June 25 announcement could go in any of several directions:
Scenario 1: New reception period with new caps. MIFI announces a fresh two-year window with a revised cap (possibly higher, possibly lower) and opens for applications starting June 26 or shortly after.
Scenario 2: Extended pause. MIFI announces that the current pause will continue while the ministry reviews its family reunification strategy under the broader Quebec immigration plan.
Scenario 3: Restructured categories. MIFI reopens some categories (spousal, dependent children 18+) but not others (parents, grandparents), or vice versa. This was the pattern under the federal Parent-Grandparent Program in the late 2010s.
Scenario 4: Income or eligibility changes. MIFI reopens with the same categories but tighter income thresholds, longer undertaking terms, or new documentation requirements.
The most likely outcome, based on Quebec's recent immigration policy direction — including the PEQ reopening and the 2026 Quebec Immigration Levels Plan — is a hybrid: a new reception period with a revised cap and modified rules. But that's a forecast, not a fact.
Why Quebec's rules are different from the rest of Canada
Family sponsorship in Canada is normally a federal process under IRCC. Quebec is the exception: under the Canada-Québec Accord, the province administers its own selection process for sponsored family members destined to Quebec.
What that means in practice:
- A Quebec resident sponsoring a spouse, partner, parent, or grandparent must first apply to MIFI for a Quebec selection certificate (CSQ) for the sponsored person. Only after the CSQ is approved does the federal PR application go to IRCC for medical, security, and admissibility checks.
- MIFI sets its own caps, income thresholds, and undertaking terms. Federal rules don't override them.
- A sponsor outside Quebec applying through IRCC's federal stream is not affected by Quebec's cap. The cap only applies to undertakings filed with MIFI.
This is the part that frustrates people most. The federal Spousal Sponsorship Program and Parent-Grandparent Program remain open across the rest of Canada. A Quebec resident has no legal pathway to apply through the federal program for a family member they intend to settle in Quebec — they're routed through MIFI.
What sponsors should do in the next 23 days
If you've been waiting for the reception period to end so you can submit, the right move now is to prepare, not wait.
Get documents ready in advance. A Quebec family sponsorship application requires:
- Proof of your status (Canadian citizenship, PR card, or other authorization to reside in Quebec)
- Proof of residency in Quebec
- Marriage certificate, common-law evidence, or proof of relationship for the sponsored person
- Birth certificates and identity documents for the sponsored family member
- Tax assessments (Notice of Assessment) showing income for the relevant reference years
- Proof of address and residency for the past 12+ months
- Translations of any document not in French or English by a certified translator
- Police certificates for the sponsored person from every country they've lived in 6+ months — check our PCC guides by country since long-lead-time certificates (France, China, Brazil) can take 8–10+ weeks
Most of these can be assembled now, regardless of when MIFI reopens.
Watch MIFI's announcement page. Quebec's family sponsorship news page is where the June 25 announcement will land. Subscribe to MIFI's email alerts if you can, and check the page daily during the week of June 22.
Don't try to submit before reopening. Any application sent to MIFI before a new reception period officially opens will be returned unprocessed. There's no "early bird" advantage and the rejection doesn't reserve a spot.
Re-confirm your eligibility under the current rules. If MIFI extends or tightens income requirements for parent-grandparent sponsorship in the next phase, you may need additional tax years of qualifying income. Pull your last three years of Notices of Assessment now to know where you stand.
What's already happening on the federal side
While Quebec applicants wait, federal sponsorship continues for residents outside Quebec.
The federal Spousal Sponsorship Program is open year-round across the rest of Canada with no annual cap on spousal applications. Inland processing currently runs about 12 months; outland processing runs about 14 months as of the May 2026 IRCC processing snapshot.
The federal Parent-Grandparent Program (PGP) uses an annual lottery system that opens in different months each year. IRCC has not yet announced the 2026 intake date as of June 2, but the program has historically opened between September and December. See our Parent-Grandparent Sponsorship 2026 guide for the latest status.
The super visa is an alternative for parents and grandparents who want to visit Canada (including Quebec) for up to five years per entry without going through PR. The super visa income requirements were loosened in March 2026 — hosts can now use either of the two preceding tax years to meet the income threshold, and the visiting parent or grandparent's own income can be counted toward household income. For families that just want to live together physically — not necessarily with PR status — the super visa is faster and doesn't depend on MIFI's announcement.
If you're a Quebec sponsor whose parents or grandparents need to be in Canada for the next 12–24 months while MIFI's reception rules sort themselves out, apply for a super visa now. Approval typically runs 4–8 weeks for most countries (longer for higher-risk visa nationalities), the visa is valid for up to 10 years with stays of up to 5 years per entry, and it doesn't lock you out of a future sponsorship undertaking. Your parents can live with you in Quebec while you wait for MIFI to reopen, and when the reception window does open, the time they've already spent in Canada doesn't hurt the sponsorship application. The super visa is the bridge, not the destination.
What to watch for in the announcement
When MIFI's June 25 communication drops, the parts worth reading first:
- Whether a new reception period opens immediately on June 26, or after a transition gap (could be weeks or months).
- The new cap number. A higher cap signals expanded intake; a lower or unchanged cap means continued rationing. A cap that breaks out caps by category (e.g., 8,000 spousal, 3,000 PGP, 2,000 other) is a meaningful structural change.
- Whether undertaking durations change. Quebec's current undertaking is 3 years for a spouse, 10 years for a dependent child, and up to 20 years for parents and grandparents. Federal rules differ. Any change here directly affects sponsors' financial obligations.
- Whether income thresholds change. MIFI uses a "low-income cutoff" based on family size and number of sponsored persons. Increases mean fewer sponsors qualify; decreases mean more.
- Whether the rules now require French language proof for the sponsor or sponsored person. This has been speculated in some commentary but never confirmed by MIFI.
We'll cover the announcement in detail the day it drops. For now, the work is on the document side — assemble everything so you're ready to submit the moment the window opens, whatever shape it takes.
Sources
- Quebec.ca — Rules governing the reception of applications
- Quebec.ca — Family reunification cap notice
- Immigration News Canada — June 2026 changes summary