Sponsor Family

• Be at least 18 years of age;
• be a Canadian citizen, or a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act or, a permanent resident of Canada;
• be living in Canada unless
  • you are a Canadian citizen who lives abroad and
  • you plan to return to Canada when your relatives immigrate and
  • are sponsoring your:
    • spouse or
    • common-law or conjugal partner or
    • dependent children who have no dependent children
  • meet set income guidelines unless
    • you are sponsoring your spouse or common-law partner and they do not have a dependent child who has one or more children of their own
    • you are sponsoring your dependent child who does not have any dependent children of their own
  • agree in writing to give financial support to your relative and any other eligible relatives coming with them:
    • beginning on the date they become a permanent resident
    • for up to 20 years (varies based on relationship)

• you are in prison
• you have not paid your alimony or child support payments
• you have declared bankruptcy and have not been released from it yet
• you receive / received social assistance for reasons other than being disabled
• you did not pay back an immigration loan, made late payments or missed payments
• you sponsored another relative in the past and did not meet the terms of the sponsorship agreement
• you were convicted of a violent crime, any offence against a relative or any sexual offence, depending on details of the case, such as:
  • the type of offence
  • how long ago it was
  • whether a record suspension was issued (formerly called “pardons” in Canada)

If you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, you may be eligible to sponsor your spouse or common-law partner to Canada. If the application is approved, your spouse or common-law partner will obtain Canadian permanent residence.

To qualify as common-law partners, you would have to be able to show that you and your partner had been cohabitating for a minimum of twelve months preceding the date of submitting your application.

If you are a Canadian permanent resident, you must be living in Canada when submitting the application. Only Canadian citizens can apply to sponsor their spouse or common-law partner while residing outside of Canada. If you are a Canadian citizen who is residing outside of Canada, you need to be able to satisfy an officer that you will live in Canada when the persons you want to sponsor becomes a permanent resident.

There is no set amount of money that the sponsor needs to have to sponsor their spouse or common-law partner unless you’re sponsoring a spouse or partner that has a dependent child, and their dependent child has one or more children of their own.

For this type of application, you would need to be able to prove that you are legally married, or have been living together in a conjugal relationship for at least one year.

Those who wish to sponsor their spouse or common-law partner to Canada will be responsible for that family member for three years after they arrive in Canada. This means that you will be held accountable if your spouse or common-law partner receives social assistance during the validity period of the undertaking. If your spouse or common-law partner does receive social assistance during the validity period of your undertaking, unless you or your spouse or common-law partner repays the government that has provided the social assistance, you will not be eligible to sponsor any other member of the family class.

If you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, you may be eligible to sponsor your dependent children to Canada. If the application is approved, your children will obtain Canadian permanent residence.

If you are a Canadian permanent resident, you have to be living in Canada when submitting the application. Only Canadian citizens can apply to sponsor their dependent children while residing outside of Canada. If you are a Canadian citizen who is residing outside of Canada, you need to be able to satisfy an officer that you will live in Canada when the persons you want to sponsor becomes a permanent resident.

There is no set amount of money that the sponsor needs to have to sponsor their dependent children unless you’re sponsoring a dependent child that has one or more dependent children of their own.

Those who wish to sponsor their dependent children to Canada will be responsible for that family member for ten years after they arrive in Canada, or until they turn 25 years of age. If you sponsored a dependent child who was 22 years of age or older, then your undertaking would be for 3 years. Children 22 years of age or older, can only be considered dependent children if they have depended on their parents for financial support since before they reached the age of 22 and they can’t financially support themselves due to a mental or physical condition.

If you are sponsoring a dependent child to Quebec, then your undertaking will be for ten years or until they turn 18 if they were under the age of 16 when you sponsored them, whichever period is longer. If they were over the age of 16, then your undertaking would be for 3 years or until the child turns 25, whichever period is longer.

This means that you will be held accountable if your dependent child receives social assistance during the validity period of the undertaking. If your dependent child does receive social assistance during the validity period of your undertaking, unless you or your dependent child repays the government that has provided the social assistance, you will not be eligible to sponsor any other member of the family class.

If you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, you may be eligible to sponsor your parents or grandparents to Canada. If the application is approved, your parents or grandparents will obtain Canadian permanent residence.

For this type of application, you have to be living in Canada when submitting the application.

Those who wish to sponsor their parents or grandparents to Canada will be responsible for that family member for twenty years after they arrive in Canada. This means that you will be held accountable if your parent or grandparent receives social assistance during the validity period of the undertaking. If your parent or grandparent does receive social assistance during the validity period of your undertaking, unless you or your parent or grandparent repays the government that has provided the social assistance, you will not be eligible to sponsor any other member of the family class.

As a sponsor, you will have to prove that you earn enough money to sponsor your parents or grandparents to Canada. This amount increases each year. As part of your application, you will need to show your income for the three years preceding the date of your application. The amount of money that you need to show is based upon the number of people that you will be responsible for. As part of this calculation you can include your spouse or common-law partner’s income if they agree to be a co-signer on the application. As a co-signer, they too will be responsible for that family member for ten years after they arrive in Canada. For “total number of persons you would be responsible for” this needs to include:

• yourself
• your spouse or common-law partner, if applicable
• your dependent children
• your spouse’s or common-law partner’s dependent children
• any other person you and your co-signer may have sponsored in the past for whom you are still financially responsible for
• the number of parents and grandparents you want to sponsor
• the spouse or common-law partner of the of parents and grandparents you want to sponsor, if applicable
• the dependent children of the parents and grandparents you want to sponsor, if applicable

If you are not able to show the requirement amount of money to sponsor your parents or grandparents for permanent residence, you may be able to apply to obtain them a Super Visa, which allows them to visit Canada for two years at a time without having to leave the country.

In certain circumstances, Canadian citizens and permanent resident can sponsor their orphaned brother, sister, nephew, niece or grandchild. If the application is approved, your relative will obtain Canadian permanent residence. For this type of application, you have to be living in Canada when submitting the application.

To qualify to sponsor an orphaned brother, sister, nephew, niece or grandchild, your relative must meet all of the following criteria:

• they’re related to you by blood or adoption
• both their mother and father have passed away
• they’re under 18 years of age
• they’re single (not married or in a common-law or conjugal relationship)

You can’t sponsor your orphaned brother, sister, nephew, niece or grandchild if:

• one of their parents is still alive
• no one knows where their parents are
• their parents abandoned them
• someone else other than their parents is taking care of them while one or both their parents are alive
• their parent is in jail or otherwise detained

Those who wish to sponsor their relative to Canada will be responsible for that family member for ten years after they arrive in Canada. This means that you will be held accountable if your relative receives social assistance during the validity period of the undertaking. If your relative does receive social assistance during the validity period of your undertaking, unless you or your relative repays the government that has provided the social assistance, you will not be eligible to sponsor any other member of the family class.

As part of this application, the sponsor will need to provide Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada with documents that show their financial resources for the past 12 months and prove they are financially able to sponsor their family member and meet the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO). The Low-Income Cut-Off (LICO) is based on the total number of persons the sponsor would be responsible for. For “total number of persons you would be responsible for” this needs to include:

• yourself
• your spouse or common-law partner, if applicable
• your dependent children
• your spouse’s or common-law partner’s dependent children
• any other person you and your co-signer may have sponsored in the past for whom you are still financially responsible for
• the number of parents and grandparents you want to sponsor
• the spouse or common-law partner of the of parents and grandparents you want to sponsor, if applicable
• the dependent children of the parents and grandparents you want to sponsor, if applicable

In certain circumstances, Canadian citizens and permanent resident can sponsor other relatives to Canada. If the application is approved, your relative will obtain Canadian permanent residence. For this type of application, you must be living in Canada when submitting the application.

Canadian citizens and permanent residents may sponsor one relative of any age to Canada if their relative is related to them by blood or adoption and they (the sponsor) meet all of the following conditions:

• you (the person who wants to sponsor your relative) do not have a living relative you could sponsor instead, such as a:
  • spouse
  • common-law partner
  • conjugal partner
  • son or daughter
  • parent
  • grandparent
  • orphaned brother or sister
  • orphaned nephew or niece
  • orphaned grandchild
• you (the potential sponsor) don’t have any relatives (aunt or uncle or any of the relatives listed above), who is a:
  • Canadian citizen
  • permanent resident
  • registered Indian under the Indian Act

As part of this application, the sponsor will need to provide Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada with documents that show their financial resources for the past 12 months and prove they are financially able to sponsor their family member and meet the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO). The Low-Income Cut-Off (LICO) is based on the total number of persons the sponsor would be responsible for. For “total number of persons you would be responsible for” this needs to include:

• yourself
• your spouse or common-law partner, if applicable
• your dependent children
• your spouse’s or common-law partner’s dependent children
• any other person you and your co-signer may have sponsored in the past for whom you are still financially responsible for
• the number of parents and grandparents you want to sponsor
• the spouse or common-law partner of the of parents and grandparents you want to sponsor, if applicable
• the dependent children of the parents and grandparents you want to sponsor, if applicable