PGP sponsor income — MNI/LICO requirements for parent and grandparent sponsorship 2026
Sponsoring parents or grandparents to Canada under the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) hinges on one non-negotiable hurdle: proving you earned enough income in each of the three consecutive tax years before you apply. IRCC calls this the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI), and it's pegged to the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) table plus a 30% buffer. Miss the threshold in even one of those three years and your application is refused before it's assessed on any other ground.
This guide walks through the 2026 MNI thresholds, what income counts (and what doesn't), how to calculate your three-year total, and the traps that trip up sponsors who thought they qualified.
Why PGP requires three consecutive years of income
MNI is the dollar figure you must clear in each of three consecutive tax years to sponsor parents or grandparents. It's calculated as LICO for your family size (sponsor, co-signer if applicable, dependents already in Canada, plus the parents or grandparents you're sponsoring) multiplied by 1.3.
IRCC wants proof of stable, sustained income, not a one-time spike. A single high-earning year followed by two lean ones won't cut it. You need to meet or exceed the threshold in year one, year two, and year three. The years must be consecutive and must align with the tax years IRCC specifies in the annual PGP intake notice—typically the three most recent years for which you have a Notice of Assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency.
This is stricter than spousal sponsorship, which has no minimum income requirement for most applicants. It's the reason PGP is often out of reach for sponsors whose income fluctuates or who rely on income sources IRCC doesn't recognize.
2026 LICO table for parent and grandparent sponsorship
LICO is published annually by Statistics Canada and updated by IRCC for immigration purposes. The table below reflects the 2026 thresholds used for PGP sponsor income assessment. Your family size includes you (the sponsor), your spouse or common-law partner if you have one, any dependent children living with you, and the parents or grandparents you're sponsoring.
Example 2026 LICO + 30% thresholds (illustrative—verify current-year figures on canada.ca):
Family size
LICO (base)
MNI (LICO + 30%)
2 persons
~$32,000
~$41,600
3 persons
~$39,000
~$50,700
4 persons
~$47,000
~$61,100
5 persons
~$54,000
~$70,200
6 persons
~$60,000
~$78,000
7+ persons
Add ~$6,000 per person to base LICO, then multiply by 1.3
Start with yourself when counting family size. Add your spouse or partner. Add each dependent child under 22 who lives with you (or over 22 if they depend on you due to disability). Add each parent or grandparent you're sponsoring. If you're sponsoring both parents, that's two people. If your co-signer has dependents, count those too.
A common mistake: forgetting to include the sponsored parents in the count. If you're a couple with no kids sponsoring both parents, your family size is four (you, spouse, parent one, parent two), not two.
LICO is the same across Canada for immigration purposes. There's no urban/rural split in the PGP version of the table, unlike some provincial social assistance thresholds.
What income counts toward the MNI threshold
IRCC accepts income reported on line 15000 of your Notice of Assessment (total income before deductions). That includes employment income (T4 wages and salary), self-employment net income after business expenses, pension income (CPP, OAS, private pensions, RRSP withdrawals reported as income), investment income (interest, dividends, capital gains, rental income net of expenses), and spousal or common-law partner income if they co-sign the sponsorship undertaking.
Loans, gifts, or one-time windfalls — not reported as income on your NOA.
IRCC verifies income by requesting your Notice of Assessment directly from CRA or asking you to upload it. If the number on line 15000 doesn't clear the MNI threshold for your family size, the application is refused. There's no discretion, no "we were close" appeal.
If you're self-employed, IRCC counts net income after expenses—the figure that lands on line 15000. Gross revenue before expenses doesn't matter. If your business had $80,000 in sales but $60,000 in costs, your countable income is $20,000.
How to calculate your three-year income for PGP
IRCC specifies the required tax years in the annual PGP interest-to-sponsor form. For a 2026 intake, the required years are typically 2023, 2024, and 2025. You must have filed your taxes and received a Notice of Assessment for all three years before you submit.
Log into your CRA My Account and download the NOA PDF for each year. If you're including a co-signer's income, pull their NOAs too. Find line 15000 on each NOA—this is "Total income," the sum of all income sources before deductions. Write down the figure for each year.
Determine your family size for each year. Count yourself, your spouse/partner, dependents living with you, and the parents or grandparents you're sponsoring. If your household size changed (a child was born, a dependent turned 22 and moved out), use the size that applies in each year. IRCC assesses year-by-year.
Compare each year's income to the MNI threshold for that year's family size. If all three years meet or exceed the threshold, you qualify. If even one year falls short, you don't.
Use the sponsorship income tool on this site if you want a quick check. Plug in your NOA figures and family size to see whether you clear the bar.
Example: You're sponsoring both parents. Your household in 2023, 2024, and 2025 was you, your spouse, and one child—family size 5 (you two, the child, and both parents). The MNI threshold for 5 persons in those years was approximately $70,200. Your line 15000 income in each year:
2023: $72,000 ✓
2024: $68,000 ✗ (below threshold)
2025: $75,000 ✓
You don't qualify. One year below threshold sinks the application.
Common sponsor income mistakes that delay or sink PGP applications
Counting Employment Insurance. EI shows up on your NOA as taxable income, so sponsors assume it counts. It doesn't. If you were on parental leave in one of the three years and a chunk of your income came from EI, you likely won't meet MNI. This is the most frequent refusal reason in PGP applications.
Forgetting to include your spouse's income. If your spouse or common-law partner co-signs the undertaking, their income counts toward the total. But if they don't co-sign, their income is excluded even if you file taxes jointly. Make sure the co-signer box is checked and their NOAs are included.
Miscounting family size. Sponsors often forget to include the parents they're sponsoring in the count, or they include adult children who no longer live with them. The rule: count everyone who will be financially dependent on you once the sponsorship is approved, plus the people you're sponsoring.
Applying before the third NOA is available. If the intake opens in January 2026 and requires 2023/2024/2025 income, you can't apply until you've filed your 2025 taxes and received the NOA from CRA. Filing early doesn't help if CRA hasn't issued the assessment yet.
Using gross business revenue instead of net income. Self-employed sponsors sometimes think their total sales figure is what IRCC looks at. It's not. Only the net income after expenses (line 15000) counts.
Assuming one high year compensates for a low year. PGP is not an average. You can't earn $100,000 in year one, $50,000 in year two, and $90,000 in year three and argue that the average is above threshold. Each year must independently meet or exceed MNI.
What happens if your income drops after you apply
IRCC can request updated financial information at any stage of processing, including after you've submitted your application and even after you've been conditionally approved. If your income falls below the MNI threshold in a subsequent tax year before your parents land in Canada, IRCC can refuse the application or withdraw the approval.
The undertaking you sign when you sponsor obligates you to financially support the sponsored parents for 20 years. IRCC interprets this to mean your income must remain above MNI not just at application but through to landing. If you lose your job, go on EI, or take a pay cut that drops you below threshold, you're required to notify IRCC. Failure to do so can result in misrepresentation findings.
In practice, most applicants aren't asked for updated NOAs unless processing stretches beyond 24 months or IRCC flags something during the file review. But the risk is real. If you're borderline on income, consider whether your earnings are stable enough to carry the sponsorship through a multi-year processing window.
If your income does drop and you're refused, you can't reapply until you've rebuilt three consecutive qualifying years. There's no appeal for PGP refusals on income grounds—the decision is final.
For applicants who don't meet the three-year MNI threshold, the Super Visa offers an alternative. It requires only one year of income at or above LICO (no 30% buffer, no three-year window), and it grants parents a 10-year multiple-entry visa with stays of up to five years at a time. It's not permanent residence, but it's faster and has a lower financial bar.
The family sponsorship pillar on this site covers other streams—spousal, dependent children, and the differences in income requirements across programs. For forms and checklists, the IMM 5406 walkthrough explains one of the required documents in the PGP package. If you're weighing whether to apply now or wait for a future intake, the 2026 immigration timing guide has broader context on how policy shifts affect family sponsorship.
Official current rules and LICO tables are published at canada.ca/immigration; this guide is independent reference content.
A small portion of this article — research support, fact-cross-checking, and copy-editing — was assisted by AI tooling. Editorial decisions, source verification, and final sign-off remain with our team. We cite primary sources from canada.ca for every factual claim.
IRCC.com is an independent news site and not affiliated with the Government of Canada.
