Family Sponsorship
Canada offers sponsorship programs for Canadian permanent residents or citizens who want to bring a loved one to Canada. These programs allow certain families to become permanent residents of Canada. One of the most popular streams of Canadian immigration.
Family sponsorship programs allows citizens and permanent residents to easily bring their spouses, children, and other immediate family members as follows to canada.
- Spouse, Common-law, or Conjugal Partner
- Parent or Grandparent Sponsorship (PGP)
- Child or Other Dependent Sponsorship
- Orphaned brother, sister, nephew, niece, or grandchild
- Other relatives
Sponsor Eligibility Requirements
- Be a Permanent resident or Canadian citizen
- Be at least 18 years old
- Lives in Canada (if sponsor is a permanent resident), or plans to return to Canada once your spouse or partner becomes a permanent resident of Canada
- Be able to provide the basic financial needs of your family member
- Will be required to sign an "undertaking" to be legally responsible for the family member
Note :
- If you were sponsored by a spouse or partner, you may not be a sponsor yourself until 5 years have passed since you became a permanent resident.
- The sponsor is financially responsible for the person sponsored for 3 years after the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident.
Spouse, Common-law or Conjugal Partner
You may be eligible to sponsor your spouse, common-law, or conjugal partner for Canadian permanent residence, whether they are residing in Canada with a valid temporary resident visa or living abroad. Applicants who are living inside Canada may also qualify for an open work permit
Parent or Grandparent Sponsorship (PGP)
Canada’s commitment to family reunification extends to grandparents and parents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents through the PGP program. To sponsor a parent or grandparent, permanent residents and Canadian citizens will be required to show that they can financially support their family by meeting the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) for the size of their family unit.
Child or Other Dependent Sponsorship
Include children as accompanying dependents on sponsorship application for permanent residence. Canada’s child sponsorship program allows permanent residents and Canadian citizens to sponsor their children (biological or adopted)
Orphaned brother, Sister, Nephew, Niece, or Grandchild
Permanent residents and Canadian citizens may be eligible to sponsor their orphaned brother, sister, niece, nephew, or grandchild to come to Canada. To sponsor your orphaned relatives, they must be under 18 years old, unmarried, and related to you by blood or adoption.
Other relatives (under exceptional circumstances as a “Lonely Canadian”)
Permanent residents and Canadian citizens may be eligible to sponsor one extended relative to come to Canada. Sponsoring a relative that falls outside of Canada’s current Family Class definition, sponsors must be defined as a “Lonely Canadian”. It means the sponsor has no child, spouse, common-law partner, parent, or grandparent.
Spouse or Common-law Partner Sponsorship
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If you are a permanent resident or Canadian citizen of Canada, you may sponsor:
- your spouse (you are legally married)
- common-law partner (you are not legally married but have been living together in a conjugal relationship for at least 12 consecutive months).
- conjugal partner (you are not legally married or in a common-law relationship and they are living outside Canada)
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There are 2 types of spousal or common-law sponsorship applications:
Inland: The application can be made from within Canada because the person you wish to sponsor is currently in Canada. Inland sponsorship allows applicants to continue to live in Canada while their application for permanent residence is in process.
If the application is made from within Canada, the person you are sponsoring may apply for an open work permit that would allow them to work for any employer in Canada while the sponsorship application is being processed.
Outland: In this case, the person you are sponsoring and who resides abroad will normally wait for permanent residence outside of the country but may visit you in Canada on a temporary resident visa.
Dependent Child Sponsorship
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Children must meet the following definition of a dependent child to be eligible for sponsorship:
- A child is considered “dependent” if he or she is not married or in a common-law relationship and is under 22 years of age.
- If a child is over 22 years of age, they may be considered dependent if they have a physical or mental condition that prevents them from being able to support themselves.
Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship (PGP)
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To be eligible under the Parents and Grandparents Program, you must:
- be at least 18 years of age;
- be the child or grandchild of the person(s) you are sponsoring;
- meet the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) required for the size of their family unit and provide Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) issued notices of assessment (NOA) as proof;
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Your spouse or common-law partner can help you meet the income requirement by co-signing the undertaking.
If a co-signer is helping you meet the MNI requirements, the co-signer must meet the similar eligibility criteria as sponsor. In addition, a co-signer must:
- not be the person being sponsored,
- have cohabited with sponsor in a conjugal relationship for at least 1 year.
- sign a sponsorship agreement that acknowledges your promise to provide for the basic needs of family member(s) for a period of 20 years,
- sign an additional agreement if you live in Quebec.
Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship (PGP)
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Sponsor will be required to sign an “undertaking” making sponsor legally responsible for the family member being sponsored. The length of the undertaking to sign will depend on the family member being sponsored and, in the case of children, their age:
Sponsored Person
Length of Undertaking (excluding Quebec)
Spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner
3 years
Dependent child
10 years, or until age 25, whichever comes first
Dependent child 22 years of age or older
3 years
Parent or grandparent
20 years
Other relative
10 years
For Quebec residents, the length of undertaking also depends on the family member you are sponsoring and, in the case of children, their age:
Sponsored Person
Length of Undertaking
Spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner
3 years
Dependent child under 16 years of age
Minimum 10 years (or until age 18), whichever is longer
Dependent child 16 years of age and older
Minimum 3 years (or until age 25), whichever is longer
Other relatives
10 years
Minimum Necessary Income tables for 2022
The below table is for all provinces except Quebec.
Family Members MNI 2021 MNI 2020 MNI 2019 2 persons $32,898 $32,270 $41,007 3 persons $40,444 $39,672 $50,414 4 persons $49,106 $48,167 $61,209 5 persons $55,694 $54,630 $69,423 6 persons $62,814 $61,613 $78,296 7 persons $69,934 $68,598 $87,172 Each additional person $7,120 $6,985 $8,876
