Canadian Family Class Sponsorship Assistance

Citizens and permanent residents of Canada over 18 years of age can sponsor certain relatives to Canada under the Family Class. You may sponsor

• your spouse
• your conjugal or common law partner
• your dependent child (including an adopted child)
• other eligible relatives such as parents or grandparents

A spouse is someone who is legally married to the sponsor. If you were married in Canada, you must have a marriage certificate from the province or territory where you got married. If you were outside Canada, the marriage must be valid under the law of the country where it happened and also under Canadian law.

A common law partner – either of the opposite or same sex – is someone you have been living with in a conjugal relationship for at least one year in an ongoing 12 month period, except for short travels allowed for business or family reasons. You will need to provide proof that you have set up a home with your common-law partner. Such proof may include a joint lease, joint ownership of a home, joint credit cards etc.

Conjugal partners, of the opposite or same sex, are partners whose circumstances do not allow them to live together in a way that would count as common-law partners or spouses. Such circumstances may include an immigration barrier, sexual orientation (if you’re in a same sex relationship and same sex marriage is not allowed where you live), your marital status (you are married to someone else and living in a country where divorce is not possible). You must prove that you depend on each other and that there is some permanence and commitment to the relationship.

A son or daughter is considered a dependent when the child is under the age of 19 and does not have a spouse or common law partner or when the child is 19 years or older, and has depended largely on the financial support of a parent since before the age of 19 due to a physical or mental condition.

You may also be able to sponsor parents and grandparents to immigrate to Canada. However, please note that between January 2, 2015 and January 1, 2016, CIC will accept a maximum of 5000 new, complete applications for sponsoring parents and grandparents.

Your family member will have to undergo medical, criminal and background checks.If they have a criminal record or are found to be a risk to Canada’s security, they may not be allowed to enter Canada.

To be a sponsor:

• You and the sponsored relative must sign a sponsorship agreement that obligates you to provide financial support for your relative if required. This agreement also states that the person becoming a permanent resident will make every effort to support themselves. Dependent children do not have to sign this agreement.
• You must promise to provide financial support for the relative and any other eligible relatives accompanying them for a period of three to ten years, depending on their age and relationship to you. The time period starts on the date they become a permanent resident.