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
If you meet the eligibility criteria, you may sponsor your spouse, common-law partner, or dependent children for Canadian permanent residence. As a sponsor, you must financially support your family members and ensure they will not require social assistance from the Canadian government.
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You can sponsor your spouse, partner, or dependent child if you:
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Are at least 18 years old
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Are a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident living in Canada, or a registered Indian under the Canadian Indian Act
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If you’re a Canadian citizen living abroad, you must show proof that you’ll live in Canada once your sponsored family members become permanent residents
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You cannot sponsor if you are a permanent resident living outside Canada
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Can prove you’re not receiving social assistance, except for reasons related to a disability
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Can financially support the person(s) you want to sponsor
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Your spouse: must be legally married to you, at least 18 years old, and can be of any gender.
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Your common-law partner: not legally married to you, at least 18 years old, of any gender, and has lived with you in a conjugal relationship for 12 continuous months without major separations.
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Dependent children: must meet both of the following:
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Be under 22 years old
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Have no spouse or common-law partner
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Children 22 or older may still qualify as dependents if:
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They are unable to support themselves financially due to a mental or physical condition
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They’ve been financially dependent on parents since before the age of 22
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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