FAMILY SPONSORSHIP

Sponsor your spouse, partner or children

If you are a citizen or permanent resident of Canada, you can sponsor your:

spouse,
common-law or conjugal partner, or
dependent children

to immigrate to Canada.

If you sponsor a family member to immigrate to Canada, you must provide proof that you can:

meet basic needs—such as food, clothing and shelter—for yourself and your family,
support your relative financially and

make sure your spouse or relative does not need to ask for financial help from the government.

Determine your eligibility

Requirements for the Sponsor:

The sponsor must be at least 18 years of age;
The sponsor must be a Canadian permanent resident living in Canada or a Canadian citizen;
The sponsor cannot be in prison, bankrupt, under a removal order (if a permanent resident) or charged with a serious offence; and
The sponsor cannot have been sponsored to Canada as a spouse within the last 5 years.

Requirements for the Sponsored Person:

The sponsored person must be at least 16 years of age and
The sponsored person must not be too closely related by blood to the sponsor.

Requirements for the nature of the relationship:The applicant must prove that the relationship between the sponsor and the sponsored person qualifies under one of three categories:

Spouse: This means that the Sponsor and the Sponsored Person are legally married. For those married within Canada, a Certificate of Marriage from the province or territory where the marriage took place will show that the marriage is valid. Note that same-sex marriages performed within Canada are valid for spousal sponsorship. If the marriage took place outside of Canada, it must be valid under the law of the country where it took place as well as under Canadian federal law. Same-sex marriages that took place outside of Canada are not valid for spousal sponsorship, but an application can be made under either the common-law partner or conjugal partner categories if such a relationship can be proven.
Common-law partner: In order to establish a common-law relationship, the Sponsor and the Sponsored Person must cohabit continuously for at least one year, excluding brief absences for business or family reasons.
Conjugal partner: Conjugal partners can be of either opposite-sex or same-sex. A sponsored person is defined as conjugal partner if:
- Exceptional circumstances beyond their control have prevented the applicants from qualifying as common-law partners or spouses, such as immigration barriers or legal restrictions limiting divorce or same-sex relationships; and
- The applicants have had a mutually dependent relationship for at least one year with the same level of commitment as a marriage or a common-law union. This can require a demonstration of emotional ties and intimacy, financial closeness, such as joint ownership of assets or mutual financial support, and efforts to spend time together and reunite.

Who is not eligible to sponsor

You may not be eligible to be a sponsor if you:

did not meet the terms of a sponsorship agreement in the past,
did not pay alimony or child support even though a court ordered it,
get social assistance for reasons other than being disabled,
were convicted of
- an offence of a sexual nature,
- a violent crime,
- an offence against a relative that resulted in bodily harm or
- an attempt or threat to commit any such offences, depending on the details of the case, such as
  - the type of offence,
  - how long ago it occurred and
  - whether a record suspension was issued,
were sponsored as a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner in the past and became a permanent resident of Canada less than five years ago,
did not pay back an immigration loan, made late payments or missed payments,
are in prison or
have declared bankruptcy which has yet to be discharged.