Permanent Residence
This status grants people who are not Canadian citizens the right to live and work in Canada without any time limit on their…
Reuniting families by assisting permanent residents or citizens to sponsor a relative.
Family sponsorship
Sponsor your spouse, partner, or child
If you’re eligible, you can sponsor your spouse, partner, or dependent children to become permanent residents of Canada.
If you do, you must be able to:
- support them financially
- make sure they don’t need social assistance from the government
You can sponsor your spouse, partner, or dependent child if:
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- You’re at least 18 years old
- You’re a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act
- If you’re a Canadian citizen living outside Canada, you must show that you plan to live in Canada when the persons you want to sponsor become permanent residents.
- You can’t sponsor someone if you’re a permanent resident living outside Canada.
- You’re able to prove that you’re not receiving social assistance for reasons other than a disability
- you can provide for the basic needs of any persons you want to sponsor
You can sponsor your spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, or dependent children.
Your spouse: can be either sex and must be legally married to you and at least 18 years old.
Your common-law partner isn’t legally married to you, can be either sex, is at least 18 years old, and has been living with you for at least 12 consecutive months, meaning you’ve been living together continuously for 1 year in a conjugal relationship, without any long periods apart.
Dependent children: Children qualify as dependants if they meet both of these requirements:
- they’re under 22 years old
- they don’t have a spouse or common-law partner
Children 22 years old or older qualify as dependants if they meet both of these requirements:
- they are unable to financially support themselves because of a mental or physical condition
- they have depended on their parents for financial support since before the age of 22
To apply to sponsor your spouse, partner, or child, there are 2 applications:
- You must apply to become a sponsor.
- Your spouse, partner, or child must apply for permanent residence.
Send both the sponsorship and the permanent residence applications together at the same time.
During processing, track your application and make sure it’s up to date by:
- checking the status of your application
- updating your address or other information, if necessary
- adding or changing your representative or getting access to your family’s information, if necessary
- withdrawing your application, if desired
- paying the right of permanent residence fee or requesting a refund
Sponsor your parents and grandparents
If you submitted the interest to sponsor form in 2020 and were invited to apply to the 2021 intake, you can sponsor your parents and grandparents to become permanent residents of Canada.
You can sponsor your own parents and grandparents if
- you’re invited to apply
- you’re at least 18 years old
- you live in Canada
- you’re a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act
- you have enough money to support the people you want to sponsor
- to show that you have enough, you’ll have to provide your proof of income
- you may have a spouse or common-law partner co-sign to combine your incomes
you meet all other requirements under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations
You can sponsor your own parents and grandparents, related by blood or adoption.
In case of divorce, you’ll need to submit separate applications if you sponsor divorced parents and grandparents. If your divorced parents or grandparents have a current spouse, common-law partner, or a conjugal partner, these people become dependants on the application and can immigrate to Canada with your parents and grandparents, if approved.
In the application, you can include your brothers and sisters, or half brothers and sisters, or step-brothers and step-sisters only if they qualify as dependent children.
You must meet the income requirements for all the people you want to sponsor and their dependants (spouse, partner, and children).
If you’re invited to apply to sponsor your parents and grandparents, there are 2 applications:
- You must apply to become a sponsor.
- Your parents or grandparents must apply for permanent residence.
Submit both the sponsorship and the permanent residence applications together online at the same time.
Sponsor your relatives
You may be able to sponsor certain relatives to immigrate to Canada under the Family Class if you’re at least 18 years old and a:
- Canadian citizen or
- person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act or
- permanent resident of Canada
If you sponsor a relative to come to Canada as a permanent resident, you must:
- support your relative financially when they arrive
- be able to meet basic needs for yourself and your relative, such as:
- food
- shelter
- clothing
- make sure your relative doesn’t need social assistance
You must live in Canada to sponsor eligible relatives unless you:
- are a Canadian citizen who lives abroad and
- 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
You can only sponsor relatives like a brother, sister, aunt, or uncle in very specific situations. If your family member doesn’t meet the criteria below, you can use our Come to Canada tool to find out which programs they may be eligible to apply for.
Depending on your situation, there are 2 options for who you can sponsor:
- Orphaned brother, sister, nephew, niece, or grandchild
- Other relatives: You may sponsor one relative, related by blood or adoption, of any age, if you meet some conditions.
There are two stages in the process for your eligible relatives to become permanent residents.
- You apply to sponsor your relatives.
- Your family members must apply for permanent residence.
You must send both your sponsorship application and the permanent residence application for your relatives at the same time.
Test your eligibility!
Take our FREE online test