Family class sponsorship allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to reunite with close family members by sponsoring them for permanent residence. Understanding who qualifies and the financial obligations involved is essential before starting the process.
Canada's family reunification program is one of the most important pillars of the country's immigration system, accounting for approximately 25% of all permanent residence admissions annually. In 2024, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) admitted over 115,000 new permanent residents through family class sponsorship programs, and the 2025-2026 Immigration Levels Plan targets similar or higher numbers to continue supporting family unity across the country.
The family class sponsorship process allows eligible sponsors to bring their loved ones to Canada, helping them build new lives together. However, the program has specific eligibility criteria, financial requirements, and legal obligations that sponsors must understand before beginning their application. This comprehensive guide explains who you can sponsor, the requirements you must meet, and what to expect throughout the process.
Who Qualifies as a Family Member You Can Sponsor?
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and its accompanying regulations define the family class narrowly to focus on immediate family relationships. Understanding these definitions is critical, as applications for individuals who do not fall within the defined categories will be refused, regardless of the strength of your family connection or your financial capacity.
Spouses, Common-Law Partners, and Conjugal Partners
You can sponsor your spouse if you are legally married and the marriage is recognized under Canadian law and the law of the country where it took place. This includes marriages performed in Canada and abroad. Common-law partners are individuals with whom you have lived in a conjugal relationship for at least 12 continuous months. Conjugal partners are individuals with whom you have maintained a committed relationship for at least one year but could not live together or marry due to circumstances beyond your control, such as immigration barriers or legal restrictions in their country of residence.
In 2024-2025, spousal and partner sponsorships represented the largest category within family class immigration, with over 80,000 applications processed annually. IRCC has made significant efforts to streamline processing for genuine relationships while maintaining vigilance against marriages of convenience and fraudulent applications.
Dependent Children
You can sponsor your dependent children, whether they are your biological children, adopted children, or children adopted in fact. A dependent child is defined as a child who is under 22 years of age and does not have a spouse or common-law partner. Children who are 22 years of age or older may still qualify as dependents if they have depended substantially on the financial support of a parent since before turning 22 and are unable to be financially self-supporting due to a physical or mental condition.
The age limit for dependent children was raised from 19 to 22 in 2017, reflecting changing social realities and extended education periods. This change has allowed thousands of additional young adults to reunite with their families in Canada. If your child turns 22 during the application process, they may still be considered a dependent child under the "locked-in" age rule, which fixes their age at the time the application was received by IRCC.
Parents and Grandparents
Canadian citizens and permanent residents can sponsor their parents and grandparents through the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP). However, this program operates differently from other family class sponsorships. Due to high demand and limited annual quotas, IRCC typically uses a lottery system to select potential sponsors who are invited to submit complete applications.
In recent years, the program has admitted between 23,000 and 28,500 parents and grandparents annually. The 2025 Immigration Levels Plan maintains a target of approximately 28,500 admissions for this category. If you are not selected in the lottery or prefer a faster option, you may consider applying for a Super Visa, which allows parents and grandparents to visit Canada for up to five years at a time without renewing their status.
Other Relatives in Exceptional Circumstances
In rare cases, you may sponsor one relative of any age or relationship if you meet all of the following conditions: you have no spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, child, parent, grandparent, sibling, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece who is a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or registered Indian under the Indian Act; and you have no relative who you could sponsor from the family class. This provision is intended for sponsors who are truly alone in Canada with no other family connections.
Additionally, you can sponsor an orphaned brother, sister, nephew, niece, or grandchild who is under 18 years of age, not married or in a common-law relationship, and whose parents are both deceased. This humanitarian provision recognizes the special responsibility family members may have for orphaned children.
Who You Cannot Sponsor Under Family Class
It is equally important to understand who does not qualify for family class sponsorship. Many Canadians are surprised to learn that the program does not extend to all family relationships they consider close or important.
You cannot sponsor siblings (brothers and sisters), aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, or cousins under the family class program, with the single exception of an orphaned relative under 18 as described above. While these relationships are undoubtedly significant, Canadian immigration policy prioritizes the nuclear family and direct lineage (spouses, children, parents, grandparents) for family reunification purposes.
If you wish to help extended family members immigrate to Canada, they must qualify through other immigration programs such as Express Entry, Provincial Nominee Programs, or other economic immigration streams. In some cases, you may be able to provide support for their application, but you cannot sponsor them directly through the family class.
Who Cannot Be Sponsored?
Even if a person falls within the eligible family class categories, certain circumstances can make them ineligible for sponsorship. These restrictions protect the integrity of Canada's immigration system and ensure that sponsored individuals can successfully integrate into Canadian society.
Previous Sponsorship Defaults
If the person you wish to sponsor was previously sponsored by someone else and that sponsor defaulted on their undertaking by failing to provide financial support, resulting in the sponsored person receiving social assistance, the individual may be ineligible for a new sponsorship until the debt is repaid or the undertaking period expires.
Criminal Convictions and Inadmissibility
Individuals who have been convicted of certain serious offences, either in Canada or abroad, may be inadmissible to Canada on grounds of criminality or serious criminality. The severity and recency of the offence, as well as whether rehabilitation has been achieved, will determine admissibility. In some cases, individuals may apply for criminal rehabilitation or a Temporary Resident Permit to overcome inadmissibility.
Other grounds of inadmissibility include security concerns (espionage, terrorism, membership in organizations involved in serious crimes), violations of human or international rights, organized criminality, health grounds (if the condition would cause excessive demand on health or social services or pose a danger to public health or safety), financial reasons (inability to support oneself), misrepresentation (providing false information or documents), and non-compliance with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Active Removal Orders
If the person you wish to sponsor has a valid removal order in effect against them, they cannot be sponsored until the removal order is resolved. This typically requires the individual to leave Canada and apply from outside the country, though in some cases, legal remedies may be available to challenge or stay the removal order.
Sponsor Eligibility Requirements
To sponsor a family member, you must meet specific eligibility criteria yourself. You must be at least 18 years of age and be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or a registered Indian under the Canadian Indian Act. If you are a Canadian citizen living outside Canada, you can still sponsor your spouse, partner, or dependent child, but you must demonstrate that you intend to return to Canada when your sponsored family member becomes a permanent resident. Permanent residents must be residing in Canada to sponsor family members.
You cannot sponsor if you are in prison, have been convicted of a violent criminal offence or an offence against a relative, are subject to a removal order, have declared bankruptcy and have not been discharged, are in default of a previous sponsorship undertaking or immigration loan, or have received social assistance for reasons other than disability.
These restrictions ensure that sponsors have the stability and reliability necessary to fulfill their legal obligations to the sponsored person.
Sponsor's Financial Obligations
When you sponsor a family member, you sign a sponsorship undertaking, which is a legally binding contract with the Government of Canada. This undertaking represents a serious commitment that extends for a specified period depending on your relationship with the sponsored person.
Under the undertaking, you promise to provide financial support for the sponsored person's basic needs, including food, clothing, shelter, and other daily necessities. You also agree to repay any provincial social assistance benefits the sponsored person receives during the undertaking period, with the exception of benefits related to disability.
Duration of Sponsorship Undertakings
The duration of your undertaking depends on who you are sponsoring. For a spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner, the undertaking lasts for three years from the date they become a permanent resident. For a dependent child under 22 years of age at the time they become a permanent resident, the undertaking lasts for ten years or until the child turns 25, whichever comes first. For a dependent child 22 years of age or older at the time they become a permanent resident, the undertaking lasts for three years. For parents and grandparents, the undertaking lasts for 20 years from the date they become permanent residents.
These obligations continue even if your circumstances change. If your relationship with a sponsored spouse or partner breaks down, if you divorce or separate, if your financial situation deteriorates, or even if you become a Canadian citizen (if you were a permanent resident when you signed the undertaking), you remain legally responsible for the undertaking. The only exception is if the sponsored person becomes a Canadian citizen, which terminates the undertaking.
In 2024-2025, the federal and provincial governments continued to actively pursue sponsors who defaulted on their undertakings. If you fail to meet your obligations and the sponsored person receives social assistance, the government can take legal action to recover the costs, including garnishing wages, seizing tax refunds, or taking you to court. These debts cannot be discharged through bankruptcy.
No Income Requirement for Spousal Sponsorship
One of the most important features of spousal and partner sponsorship is that there is no minimum income requirement. Unlike the Parents and Grandparents Program, which requires sponsors to meet specific income thresholds for three consecutive taxation years, spousal sponsorship is available to Canadians and permanent residents regardless of their income level.
The only financial requirement is that you must not be receiving social assistance for reasons other than disability. This means that even if you have a modest income or are temporarily unemployed, you can still sponsor your spouse, partner, or dependent child. However, you must be able to demonstrate that you can provide for the basic needs of your family, and IRCC may request information about your financial situation and plans for supporting the sponsored person.
This policy reflects the Canadian government's recognition that family unity is a fundamental right and that spouses and children should not be separated based solely on income. It acknowledges that families often pool resources and support each other, and that the sponsored person may also contribute to the household income once they arrive in Canada and obtain work authorization.
Income Requirements for Parents and Grandparents
In contrast to spousal sponsorship, the Parents and Grandparents Program has strict income requirements. To be eligible to sponsor your parents or grandparents, you must meet or exceed the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) for three consecutive taxation years immediately preceding your application.
The MNI is set at 130% of the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) and varies based on the size of your family unit, which includes yourself, your spouse or partner, your dependent children, any other persons you have sponsored who are still subject to an undertaking, and the parents or grandparents you wish to sponsor. For 2025, the MNI thresholds range from approximately $38,000 for a family unit of two people to over $80,000 for larger family units.
You must provide Notices of Assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency for the three required taxation years to prove your income. Acceptable sources of income include employment income, self-employment income (net income after expenses), pension income, investment income, and certain other sources. Social assistance, Employment Insurance benefits, and provincial training allowances do not count toward the MNI.
If you do not meet the income requirement on your own, you may have a co-signer (your spouse or common-law partner only) who can combine their income with yours to meet the threshold. Both you and your co-signer will be equally responsible for the 20-year undertaking.
Processing Timeline
Processing times for family class sponsorship applications vary significantly depending on the category and the specific circumstances of each case. IRCC regularly updates processing time estimates on its website, and these should be checked at the time you apply, as they fluctuate based on application volumes, resource allocation, and operational capacity.
Spousal and Partner Sponsorship
As of early 2025, spousal and partner sponsorship applications are generally processed within 12 months from the date of receipt of a complete application. This timeline applies to both inland applications (where the sponsored person is in Canada) and outland applications (where the sponsored person is outside Canada). IRCC has made significant investments in processing capacity for spousal applications in recent years, reducing wait times from the 24-month averages seen in 2018-2019.
However, individual cases may take longer if additional verification is required, if documents are missing or unclear, if security or medical checks are delayed, or if an interview is requested. Complex cases involving previous marriages, relationships with significant age differences, or limited documentation of the relationship may face additional scrutiny and longer processing times.
Dependent Children
Applications to sponsor dependent children typically follow similar timelines to spousal sponsorship, with most cases resolved within 12 to 15 months. Cases involving adopted children or children born outside marriage may require additional documentation and verification, potentially extending processing times.
Parents and Grandparents
The Parents and Grandparents Program has historically had much longer processing times than other family class categories. As of 2025, applications are taking approximately 20 to 24 months from the date of submission of a complete application, though some cases are resolved more quickly and others take longer. The lengthy processing time reflects the complexity of these applications, the volume of applications received, and the extensive medical examinations required for older applicants.
It is important to note that this processing time begins only after you have been selected in the lottery and invited to submit a complete application. The lottery itself is held periodically (typically annually), and there may be a wait of one or more years between expressing interest and being invited to apply.
Application Process Overview
The family class sponsorship application process involves several key steps. First, you must determine eligibility for both yourself as a sponsor and your family member as a sponsored person. Next, you gather required documents, including identity documents, proof of relationship, police certificates, medical examinations, and financial documents (for parents and grandparents). Then you complete the application forms, which include sponsorship forms for you and permanent residence forms for the sponsored person.
After that, you pay the required fees, which include the sponsorship fee, principal applicant processing fee, right of permanent residence fee, and biometrics fee. You submit the application to IRCC, either online or by mail depending on the program. IRCC reviews the application and may request additional documents or information. The sponsored person completes medical examinations and provides biometrics if required. Finally, if approved, the sponsored person receives confirmation of permanent residence and can travel to Canada or confirm their permanent resident status if already in Canada.
Throughout the process, you can check the status of your application online through your IRCC account. Processing times and procedures are subject to change, so it is essential to consult the most current information on the IRCC website when preparing your application.
After Permanent Residence is Granted
Once your sponsored family member becomes a permanent resident of Canada, they have most of the same rights and responsibilities as Canadian citizens. They can live, work, and study anywhere in Canada, access most social services including healthcare and education, and apply for Canadian citizenship after meeting the residency requirements (generally three years of physical presence in Canada within a five-year period).
As a sponsor, you remain responsible for your undertaking obligations for the full duration of the undertaking period. You should maintain communication with the sponsored person and be prepared to provide support if needed. If the sponsored person applies for social assistance during the undertaking period, you will be contacted by the government and required to repay the benefits received.
Permanent residents must meet certain obligations to maintain their status, including residing in Canada for at least 730 days in every five-year period. If your sponsored family member spends extended periods outside Canada, they may lose their permanent resident status. However, time spent outside Canada while accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse or partner counts toward the residency obligation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sponsor my sibling to come to Canada?
No, you cannot sponsor a brother or sister under the family class sponsorship program unless they are under 18, orphaned, and not married or in a common-law relationship. Adult siblings must qualify for immigration through other programs such as Express Entry, Provincial Nominee Programs, or other economic immigration streams. While you cannot sponsor them directly, you may be able to support their application in other ways, such as providing a job offer if you are an employer or helping them research suitable immigration pathways.
What happens if my relationship breaks down after I sponsor my spouse?
If your relationship with your sponsored spouse or partner ends through separation or divorce, you remain legally responsible for the sponsorship undertaking for the full three-year period from the date they became a permanent resident. You are still obligated to repay any social assistance they receive during this time, even if you are no longer together. The only way the undertaking ends early is if the sponsored person becomes a Canadian citizen. This policy exists to prevent sponsors from abandoning sponsored family members and leaving them dependent on government support. If you are experiencing relationship breakdown and have concerns about your sponsorship obligations, you should seek legal advice.
How long does it take to sponsor parents or grandparents in 2025?
The Parents and Grandparents Program involves two main waiting periods. First, you must be selected in the lottery to be invited to apply, which happens periodically (typically once per year). If selected, you then have 60 days to submit a complete application. Once your complete application is received, current processing times are approximately 20 to 24 months, though individual cases vary. In total, from expressing interest to final approval, the process typically takes 2 to 3 years or longer. If you need to bring your parents or grandparents to Canada more quickly, consider applying for a Super Visa, which allows them to visit for up to five years at a time while you wait for the sponsorship application to be processed.
This article provides general information about family class sponsorship in Canada and should not be considered legal advice. Immigration laws and policies change frequently. For advice specific to your situation, consult with a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) or immigration lawyer. Processing times, fees, and requirements mentioned in this article are current as of 2025 but are subject to change by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.