Family Sponsorship
Want to sponsor a family member? Are you:
- A Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada?
- Age 18 or over?
If so, you can sponsor certain family members to become Canadian permanent residents:
- Spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner
- Dependent child (or child you plan to adopt): the child must be 21 and younger
- Parents and Grandparents: father, mother, grandfather or grandmother
- Orphaned Relatives: brother, sister, nephew, niece, grandson or granddaughter, who are orphaned, who under the age of 18, and are not married or in a common-law relationship
- Other relatives: only Lonely Canadians are eligible to sponsor as long as they have no other family living in Canada
If you sponsor a relative to come to Canada as a permanent resident, you are responsible for supporting your relative financially when he or she arrives.
Requirements To Sponsor:
- You must be at least 18 years of age
- You and the sponsored person must sign a sponsorship agreement that commits you to provide financial support for your relative, if the need arises
- If sponsoring a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner, you must provide financial support for three years from the date they become a permanent resident
- You must provide financial support for a dependent child for 10 years, or until the child turns 25, whichever comes first
Definitions of relationships as per IRCC
Spouse – either of the two people (opposite or same gender) in a marriage that is legally recognized in the country where it took place, as well as in Canada.
Common-law partner – a person who has been living in a conjugal relationship with another person (either gender), for at least one year, continuously. A conjugal relationship exists when a significant degree of commitment between two people can be shown.
Conjugal partner – This category is for partners, either of the opposite sex or same sex, in exceptional circumstances beyond their control that prevent them from living together and thus not qualifying as common-law partners or spouses.
- is 21 and younger and does not have a spouse or common-law partner
- is older than 21 and depended substantially on the financial support of a parent since before the age of 22 because of a physical or mental condition
Sponsors living outside Canada
Canadian citizens living outside of Canada may sponsor someone provided that the sponsor is able to demonstrate that they will reside in Canada after their sponsored landing(s).
Permanent residents residing abroad may not sponsor their family from outside Canada.
Sponsor (Guarantor)
You can sponsor a close relative who has not been convicted of an offence causing bodily harm if you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident living in Quebec, you are at least 18 years of age and you satisfy the prerequisites.