Sponsoring family for PR

Family sponsorship is a core Canadian immigration pathway that lets you bring your closest relatives to live with you as permanent residents. Whether you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) offers several routes to reunite your loved ones with you, though each has different rules and timelines.

Who You Can Sponsor

Family sponsorship in Canada is limited to specific legal relationships. You can sponsor your spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, dependent children, parents, and grandparents. Couples of any gender can sponsor each other through the same pathways.

A dependent child is generally under 22 years old and not married or in a common-law partnership. In some cases, adult children 22 and older may still qualify if they have depended on parental support since before age 22 due to a physical or mental condition.

There are limited exceptions to sponsor other relatives (such as siblings or aunts/uncles) only if you have no closer family members you could sponsor and your family situation meets strict legal conditions. Canada's system does not include fiancé or fiancée sponsorship categories—your relationship must already fall under a recognized category (spouse, common-law, conjugal) when you apply.

Basic Eligibility to Be a Sponsor

To become a sponsor, you must be at least 18 years old and be either a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or a person registered in Canada under the Indian Act. You must also live in Canada—with one exception: Canadian citizens living abroad may sponsor if they can prove they intend to return to Canada when the person they are sponsoring becomes a permanent resident. Permanent residents, however, must physically reside in Canada to sponsor.

You are ineligible to sponsor if you are in default on a previous sponsorship obligation, receiving social assistance for reasons other than disability, bankrupt and undischarged, or convicted of certain violent crimes. If you signed an undertaking for a previous spouse or partner, you must wait three years after they became a permanent resident before sponsoring anyone new.

Income Requirements and the Undertaking

Spouse, Partner, and Dependent Child Sponsorship

In most cases, there is no minimum income requirement to sponsor your spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, or dependent child. However, you must sign an undertaking—a binding legal agreement—promising to financially support the basic needs of the person you are sponsoring for a set period.

An income requirement does apply in limited cases: if you are sponsoring a spouse or partner who has a dependent child, and that child has dependent children of their own. In these situations, you must meet the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) threshold as shown on the Financial Evaluation Form IMM 1283.

Outside Quebec, your undertaking lasts three years from the day your spouse, partner, or dependent child becomes a permanent resident. If your dependent child is under 22 when they become a permanent resident, the undertaking extends for 10 years or until the child turns 25, whichever comes first. In Quebec, the timeframe is different and subject to provincial rules.

Your undertaking is legally binding even if your circumstances change, your relationship ends, or the sponsored person becomes a Canadian citizen. If the sponsored person receives social assistance during the undertaking period, you are liable to repay that amount to the government.

Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship

Sponsoring parents or grandparents has stricter income requirements. You must meet or exceed the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) for each of the three tax years before you apply. For the 2025 intake, that means proving you met the income threshold for the tax years 2024, 2023, and 2022. The actual dollar amount varies by family size and is updated annually by IRCC.

Your spouse or common-law partner can co-sign the application and combine their income with yours to help meet the requirement. You must provide a notice of assessment (NOA) from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for each of the three tax years, or provide signed consent for IRCC to obtain your tax information directly from the CRA using your Social Insurance Number (SIN).

Your undertaking for parents or grandparents lasts 20 years from the date they become permanent residents, or 10 years if you live in Quebec. You are also liable to repay any social assistance they receive during the undertaking period. The financial commitment is significant and long-term.

Spouse and Partner Sponsorship: Inland vs. Outland

Inland Sponsorship

Inland sponsorship is for couples who are already living together in Canada. Your spouse or partner must be physically present in Canada with valid temporary resident status (visitor, work permit, or study permit), or fall under IRCC's spousal public policy if they lack status but meet other conditions.

A major benefit of inland sponsorship is that your spouse or partner may qualify for an open work permit after IRCC receives and accepts your complete application (marked by an Acknowledgment of Receipt letter). This allows them to work for any Canadian employer while your application is being processed.

Processing times for inland applications are currently around 25 months outside Quebec. Your spouse must remain in Canada throughout processing. If they leave Canada and are denied re-entry by the Canada Border Services Agency, your application will be cancelled.

If your inland application is refused, you have limited appeal options. You may pursue a judicial review through Federal Court (within 15 days), though this is complex and expensive and does not allow new evidence. This is an important consideration when deciding between inland and outland.

Outland Sponsorship

Outland sponsorship is for couples where your spouse or partner lives outside Canada, or for those already in Canada who prefer to have the application processed through a visa office in another country. Processing times are currently around 16 months outside Quebec—faster than inland.

Your spouse or partner has flexibility to travel during processing, though entry into Canada is never guaranteed and is at the discretion of border services officers. If your outland application is refused, you have the right to appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division within 30 days, which provides stronger legal protections.

Applicants under outland sponsorship do not usually have access to a spousal open work permit while outside Canada. However, if your partner is in Canada on valid temporary status and you have received an AOR (Acknowledgment of Receipt), they may be able to apply for an open work permit after they enter Canada.

Even if your spouse or partner is already living in Canada, you can choose to apply outland if you expect them to travel during processing or prefer the faster timeline and appeal rights.

Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) and Super Visa Alternative

The Parents and Grandparents Program is a permanent residence pathway for your parents or grandparents. However, sponsors must receive an invitation from IRCC before applying. The program operates on a random selection lottery system from those who submitted interest forms in 2020. New intake periods are announced periodically, and the government sets a cap on the number of applications it will accept each year.

Processing times for PGP applications are approximately 24 months outside Quebec and around 48 months for applicants destined to Quebec. Because the program operates by invitation, and invitations are limited and sporadic, the wait to bring parents or grandparents as permanent residents can be very long.

The Super Visa: A Faster Alternative

If you are not selected for the PGP program, the Super Visa is a practical alternative. It is a multiple-entry visitor visa that allows your parents or grandparents to visit Canada for up to five years at a time. A single Super Visa is valid for up to 10 years, with the possibility of two-year extensions while they are in Canada, allowing them to spend most of a decade with you.

The Super Visa does not lead to permanent residence—it is a visitor status. However, it is available year-round, does not require an invitation or lottery, and is processed much faster than the PGP. Your parent or grandparent can hold the visa while continuing to live abroad and visiting you multiple times.

To qualify for a Super Visa, you (the host) must meet a minimum income requirement, which varies by the size of your family. As of March 31, 2026, new flexibility was introduced: you can now meet the income requirement by looking at either of the two most recent tax years (not just the most recent year), and your parent's or grandparent's own income can be counted if you meet a required minimum percentage of the threshold.

Your parent or grandparent must have valid private health insurance for a minimum of one year from a Canadian insurance company or an approved provider. They must provide proof of this insurance on each entry to Canada. They must also undergo a medical examination and obtain a letter of invitation from you promising financial support.

Super Visa holders cannot work or study in Canada. They retain visitor status and must maintain sufficient ties to their home country and prove they intend to return when their authorized stay ends.

Important Rules and Risks

Common mistakes in family sponsorship applications include incomplete documentation, missing proof of relationship, failing to disclose family members, providing false information, and misunderstanding who is a dependent. Applications returned for incompleteness must be resubmitted, causing delays of several months.

Proof of a genuine relationship is critical, especially for spousal and partner sponsorship. IRCC will review photos, travel records, joint bank accounts, shared leases, communication records, and affidavits from friends and family. Relationships that began while one partner was in Canada on a visitor visa may face extra scrutiny regarding the genuineness of the relationship.

Your sponsorship undertaking is legally binding and can be enforced if the sponsored person receives social assistance. You remain responsible even if you become separated or divorced, or if your financial situation changes. Before you sponsor, carefully consider your long-term ability to provide financial support.

If you are a Quebec resident, you must meet both federal IRCC requirements and Quebec's provincial immigration requirements. This adds an extra step and can increase processing times. Undertaking obligations in Quebec differ from other provinces, so confirm the rules with the Quebec government before applying.

Getting Help

Family sponsorship applications are complex and have strict deadlines and document requirements. If you use a paid immigration representative, they must be authorized by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) or be a lawyer. Always verify a representative's credentials before hiring. You can also apply without a representative, though many families benefit from expert guidance to avoid costly errors.

Official resources include the IRCC website (canada.ca), which provides downloadable guides, forms, and up-to-date processing times. You can also contact IRCC directly by phone or web form if you have questions about your specific situation. Settlement.org is a trusted resource with information about family sponsorship and Canadian integration.