Family Sponsorship
If you are a Permanent Resident or a Canadian citizen aged 18 or over, you can sponsor certain family members to immigrate permanently to Canada. If you successfully sponsor them for permanent residence, you are financially responsible for them for a certain period of time, also known as the duration of the undertaking. You must also ensure that they do not need social assistance from the government. One of the objectives of Immigration and Refugee Protection is to see that families are reunited in Canada. In line with this objective, Family reunification is among the top priorities for the Canadian government.
There is a wide range of options under the Family class. You can sponsor your Spouse, Common Law Partner, Conjugal Partner, Dependent Children, Parents and Grandparents to become Permanent Residents of Canada. Under some specific circumstances, you can sponsor some other relatives.
Sponsoring your Spouse, CLP, Conjugal Partner and Dependent Children
An eligible Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident can sponsor their spouse, CLP, conjugal partner or their dependent children. To be eligible under this category, an applicant must meet certain requirements some of which are listed below. An applicant must:
When it comes to dependent children, you can sponsor your own dependent children or dependent children of your partner. Some other conditions for dependent children to qualify are as follows:
- Must be under 22 years of age. Children over 22 years of age qualify as dependent children if they are unable to support themselves because of a mental or physical condition and they have depended on their parents for financial support since before the age of 22.
- Must not have a spouse or CLP.
Sponsoring Parents or Grandparents
In order to sponsor your Parents or Grandparents, you must first submit an interest to sponsor form. The relationship can be by blood or adoption. You can sponsor more than one person or couple provided you meet the income requirements. The applicants must not be inadmissible and willing to get their medicals done. You cannot sponsor your in laws but can co sign your spouse’s application for sponsoring his/her parents or grandparents.
Invitations to apply for 2023 will be sent out between Oct 10 -Oct 23, 2023. Interest to sponsor forms may open in the future.
Sponsoring other relatives
You can sponsor an orphaned brother, sister, nephew, niece or grandchild if they meet all the following conditions:
- They are related to you by blood or adoption.
- Both their mother and father are not alive.
- They are single.
- They are less than 18 years of age.
You may sponsor one relative of any age related by blood or adoption if you meet al the following conditions:
- You do not have a living relative you could sponsor such as a spouse, CLP, conjugal partner, children, parent, grandparent, orphaned brother/sister, orphaned nephew/niece, orphaned grandchild.
- You do not have any relatives listed above who is a Canadian citizen or PR or registered Indian under the Indian act.