Spouse/Family Visas

If you are a citizen or permanent resident in Canada over the age of 18, you can sponsor a parent or grandparent in their efforts to gain permanent residency.

Qualifying Criteria

In order to qualify for this program, you will need to be able to financially support your parent or grandparent. You will be responsible for them from the time that they step foot on Canadian soil. This includes catering to their basic needs such as housing and food. As a sponsor, it is essential that you ensure that your sponsored family member does not claim social assistance from the government.

The sponsor and sponsored person must both meet certain requirements. This includes the sponsored person passing their medical examinations and background checks.

Eligibility Requirements

In order to sponsor one’s parents and grandparents to become a permanent resident under this sponsorship class, applicants must be:

• At least 18 years old; and
• A Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada

If you sponsor your parents and grandparents to come to Canada as a permanent resident, you must:

• Meet certain income requirements;
• Support that person and their dependants financially;
• Meet the minimum necessary income level for this program by submitting notices of assessment issued by the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) in support of their sponsorship;
• Sponsors must also demonstrate they have met the minimum necessary income level for three consecutive years. If married or in a common-law relationship, the income of both persons can be included; and
• The sponsor and the sponsored relative must sign a sponsorship agreement that commits the sponsor to provide financial support for the sponsored person for up to 20 years.

Potential sponsors who live in Quebec must also meet Quebec’s immigration sponsorship requirements after Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) approves them as a sponsor.

What Disqualifies You as a Sponsor?

You may not be able to sponsor a parent or grandparent under the family sponsorship programs if you:

• Are receiving social assistance. The only exception is if it is disability assistance;
• Have a history of defaulting an undertaking. If you have sponsored a family member, spouse or dependent child in the past and you did not meet the required financial obligation, you may not be eligible to sponsor again. The same applies if you have failed to pay family or child support;
• Are an undischarged bankrupt;
• Have been convicted of a criminal offence that involves harming a relative; and
• Are under a removal order

The IRCC will perform thorough background checks to ensure you do not possess any of these factors that disqualify you as a sponsor.