Family Sponsorship

You are eligible to sponsor certain close family members from other countries if you hold the title of a Canadian Citizen or are a Permanent Resident in Canada. These family members are entitled to a Permanent Resident Status within Canada.

Basic Qualifications

In order to be eligible to sponsor a family member, one needs to be a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident. You must be 18 years of age or older. A sponsorship agreement between you and your relative need to be signed, committing you to provide financial support for your relative, if necessary. This agreement also does state that the person becoming a permanent resident will make every effort to support themselves. You need to provide financial support for a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner for a minimum of three years from the date they become a permanent resident. Financial support also needs to be provided for a dependent child for 10 years or until the child turns 25 years of age, whichever happens first.

Minimum Income Expectations

A minimum level of income to sponsor a spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, or child is not required. The income requirement only applies to other types of sponsored relatives. The sponsor needs to show that he or she has sufficient income and/or assets to support their family members upon arrival to Canada without requiring social assistance.

Relatives who can be Sponsored

Relatives that can be sponsored under the Family Class include:

Spouse:

A spouse is defined as a husband or wife that is legally married to one another. If the marriage did not occur in Canada, it needs to be legal in the country where it occurred; this will be accepted by Canadian Immigration Authorities.

Common-law partner:

The individual and the sponsor have lived together continuously for a minimum of one year in a conjugal relationship. A conjugal relationship is one that is defined as a “marriage-like” relationship.

Conjugal Partner:

An individual that has been in a genuine committed and interdependent relationship with the sponsor for a minimum of one year. A “marriage-like” relationship but due to external circumstances have not been able to live together. This category is NOT intended as a type of fiancée visa, rather it is an exception category for individuals who have not been able to marry or live with one another.

Children:

Dependent children under the age of 22 who are unmarried and residing in another country are eligible for sponsorship. The exception for children over the age of 22 is that since reaching the age of 22 or from the date they were married, they have remained as a full time student with financial dependency on the sponsor.

Parents:

Parents are defined as a mother or father of the sponsor. Note that parents are allowed to bring their dependent children, which will be the sponsor’s siblings if they are under the age of 22 or individuals who are over the age of 22 but still require financial dependency from the parents. Both parents and siblings are eligible for Permanent Residency.

Note that Brothers and Sisters can ONLY be sponsored as accompanying dependents of sponsored parents and not directly under the Family Class.

Grandparents:

The grandmother or grandfather of the sponsor.

Orphans:

An orphan is an individual whose parents both are deceased. An orphaned sibling (brother or sister), niece or nephew and/or grandchild can be sponsored if they are under the age of 18 and are unmarried.

Adopted Children:

An adopted child is a child under the age of 18 that the sponsor plans on adopting in Canada. This child can be sponsored.

Other Relative:

In the circumstance that the sponsor does not have a spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, child, parents, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, nephew or niece living in Canada and no relative living abroad who may be sponsored under the regular categories mentioned above, they may sponsor any other relative regardless of their age.