Family Class Sponsorship

Canadian citizens and permanent residents living in Canada, 18 years of age or older, may sponsor close family members who wish to immigrate to Canada. Sponsors must agree to support the family member and accompanying dependents to help them settle in Canada.

• Spouse (16 years old or older).
• Conjugal / Common-law Partner (16 years old or older).
• Parents/Grandparents.
• Dependent children, including adopted children.
• Children under the age of 18 whom the sponsor intends to adopt.
• Brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, or grandchildren who are orphans, under the age of 18 and unmarried or not in a common-law relationship.
• Any other relative if the sponsor has none of the above family members either in Canada or abroad.

One can sponsor spouse, partner or dependent child if:

• Sponsor is at least 18 years old and is a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada. If sponsor is a Canadian citizen living outside Canada, then must show that plan to live in Canada when the sponsored person become permanent residents.
• One cannot sponsor someone if sponsor is a permanent resident living outside Canada.
• Processing time is about 12 months

Income requirement
In most cases, there isn’t an income requirement to sponsor spouse or partner or dependent child. Sponsor only need to show that he/she has enough money to meet the income requirements if sponsoring a dependent child that has 1 or more dependent children of their own, or sponsoring a spouse or partner that has a dependent child, and their dependent child has 1 or more children of their own.

Initially need to submit an interest to sponsor form and when invited to submit a complete application, one can sponsor parents and grandparents to become permanent residents of Canada.

The sponsor (and your co-signer, if applicable) must prove that they have enough income to support all the persons they will be financially responsible for, including themselves.

Certain relatives could be sponsored to immigrate to Canada under the Family Class
Depending on the situation, there are 2 options for who could be sponsored.
Orphaned brother, sister, nephew, niece or grandchild
Canadian Citizen or PR can sponsor an orphaned brother, sister, nephew, niece or grandchild only if they meet all of these conditions:

• they’re related by blood or adoption
• both their mother and father passed away
• they’re under 18 years of age
• they’re single (not married or in a common-law or conjugal relationship)

One cannot sponsor their brother, sister, nephew, niece or grandchild if:

• one of their parents is still alive
• no one knows where their parents are
• their parents abandoned them
• someone else other than their parents is taking care of them while one or both their parents are alive
• their parent is in jail or otherwise detained

Canadian Citizen or PR may sponsor one relative, related by blood or adoption, of any age, if all these conditions are met:

• the person who wants to sponsor your relative don’t have a living relative, such as a:
  • spouse/ common-law partner/ conjugal partner
  • son or daughter
  • parent
  • grandparent
  • orphaned brother or sister
  • orphaned nephew or niece
  • orphaned grandchild
• the potential sponsor don’t have any relatives (aunt or uncle or any of the relatives listed above), who is a:
  • Canadian citizen
  • permanent resident
  • registered Indian under the Indian Act