Sponsor
Bring your loved ones to Canada
Family reunification programs allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents over the age of 18 to sponsor their relatives to join them in Canada permanently. The family members include spouses, common-law or conjugal partners, dependant children, parents and grandparents, and in some circumstances other relatives.
Family Class sponsorships – Under this program the sponsor’s family members reside outside Canada and once IRCC approves the sponsorship, the permanent residence application is processed by the Visa office responsible for the country the family member is a citizen of or resides in. In some cases the immigration officer conduct an interview before making a decision on the case.
Spousal sponsorship – Option to sponsor a spouse (by marriage), a common-law partner (must prove minimum of 12 months of continuous cohabitation to be considered common-law) or conjugal partners ( a couple in a committed relationship, but unable to cohabit or to marry due to circumstances beyond their control).
Dependent child – to sponsor your or your spouse’s dependent child(ren). A child is considered a dependent if the child is under the age of 22 and doesn’t have a spouse or common-law partner. In special circumstances children over the age of 22 can be considered a dependent.
Other relative – in special circumstances you might be able to sponsor other family members (such as siblings, nieces and nephews etc.) if you or the relative have no other living family member.
Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada Class sponsorships – your foreign national spouse or common-law partner is in Canada with you on a temporary status and you would like them to stay here with you while the application is in process.
Parents, grandparents sponsorship (Family class) – If you meet the financial requirements you might be able to submit a sponsorship application for your parents or grandparents living abroad. This program is only open periodically and is now based on a lottery system. In 2020 the program opened for a few weeks to allow potential sponsors to submit their interest. From the interest pool IRCC randomly invited families to submit their applications. In 2021 IRCC announced that they are not opening the program for new interest submissions, but will invited more families from the 2020 pool. If you advent submitted your interest, you have to wait until 2022. If you wish to have your parents or grandparents visit and stay with you for a longer period, you should consider applying for a Supervisa.
Potential sponsors must understand their obligations. IRCC requires a sponsor to sign an undertaking and sponsorship agreement. By signing the undertaking, the sponsor guarantees that they will be financially responsible for the sponsored person after they receive their PR status for the period of 3 years for spouses and common-law/conjugal partners, 10 years or until the age of 22 for dependent children and 20 years for parents or grandparents.