Most visitors to Canada may visit for up to six months when they first enter Canada. Visitors who wish to stay longer must apply for an extension and pay a new fee. With the parent and grandparent super visa, eligible parents and grandparents can visit family in Canada for longer periods of time than with a visitor visa.

The super visa is a multi-entry visa that provides multiple entries for a period up to 10 years. The key difference is that the super visa allows an individual to stay for up to 5 years at a time in Canada, while a 10-year multiple entry visa would only have a status period for each entry of six months only.