Are you a citizen or permanent resident or work permit holder in Canada wanting to bring your dependents to Canada? To facilitate families to live together, the Government of Canada allows eligible residents above the age of 18 to sponsor dependent spouses, children, parents, partners, and grandparents to live with them in Canada. Sponsorship applications take approximately 12 months to process from start to finish. They are typically not processed much faster than 12 months but they can take longer, depending on the nature of your case.
Who is eligible to sponsor their spouse, partner or child
You can sponsor your spouse, partner or dependent child if:
- You’re at least 18 years old
- You’re a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act
- If you’re a Canadian citizen living outside Canada, you must show that you plan to live in Canada when the persons you want to sponsor become permanent residents.
- You can’t sponsor someone if you’re a permanent resident living outside Canada.
- You’re able to prove that you’re not receiving social assistance for reasons other than a disability
- you can provide for the basic needs of any persons you want to sponsor
Income requirement
In most cases, there isn’t an income requirement to sponsor your spouse or partner or dependent child. You only need to show that you have enough money to meet the income requirements if:
- you’re sponsoring a dependent child that has 1 or more dependent children of their own, or
- you’re sponsoring a spouse or partner that has a dependent child, and their dependent child has 1 or more children of their own.
Who you can sponsor
You can sponsor your spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner or dependent children.
Your spouse
Your spouse can be either sex and must be:
- legally married to you
- at least 18 years old
Your common-law partner
Your common-law partner:
- isn’t legally married to you
- can be either sex
- is at least 18 years old
- has been living with you for at least 12 consecutive months, meaning you’ve been living together continuously for 1 year in a conjugal relationship, without any long periods apart
- Any time spent away from each other should have been
- short
- temporary
- Any time spent away from each other should have been
If you or your common-law partner choose to end the relationship, we consider the relationship to be over.
Your conjugal partner
Your conjugal partner:
- isn’t legally married to you or in a common-law relationship with you
- can be either sex
- is at least 18 years old
- has been in a relationship with you for at least 1 year
- lives outside Canada
- can’t live with you in their country of residence or marry you because of significant legal and immigration reasons such as
- their marital status (for example, they’re still married to someone else in a country where divorce isn’t possible)
- their sexual orientation (for example, you are in a same-sex relationship, and same-sex relationships are not accepted, or same-sex marriage is illegal where they live),
- persecution (for example, your relationship is between different religious groups which is not accepted and they may be punished legally or socially)
You’ll need to give proof that you could not live together or get married in your conjugal partner’s country (for example, proof of refused long-term stays in each other’s country).
Dependent children
Children qualify as dependants if they meet both of these requirements:
- they’re under 22 years old
- they don’t have a spouse or common law partner
Children 22 years old or older qualify as dependants if they meet both of these requirements:
- they are unable to financially support themselves because of a mental or physical condition
- they have depended on their parents for financial support since before the age of 22
With the exception of age, your dependent child must continue to meet these requirements until we finish processing your application.