Family reunification is one of the pillars of Canada’s immigration system. Since the end of the Second World War, Canada has sought to welcome immigrants to strengthen its economy, bring families together, and on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. The family class is the second largest category of newcomers welcomed by Canada under its Immigration Levels Plan. Canada is pursuing the highest levels of immigration in its history to support its post-COVID economic recovery. As such, Canada aims to welcome over 400,000 new immigrants per year, of which, over 100,000 immigrants per year fall under the family class.

The country’s immigration system is managed by the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada or IRCC for short. The department was previously known as Citizenship and Immigration Canada, or CIC for short. IRCC establishes and administers Canada’s family sponsorship program. This entails establishing program criteria, accepting and reviewing family sponsorship applications, and providing permanent and temporary resident visas.

What is Canadian family sponsorship?

There are two main aspects to sponsorship:

1) It allows your family member to immigrate to Canada and get permanent residence (PR).

2) It requires you, as an individual, to make a commitment to provide for basic needs and to support that person financially.

Can I be a sponsor?

To sponsor a family member, you are required to meet several requirements such as being:

• a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada
• 18 years of age or older
• able to support the sponsored person for several years

Who can I sponsor?

• Spouses and common-law partners
• Dependent children
• Parents and grandparents

There are exceptions to this rule, however, and it may be possible to sponsor a non-immediate family member (for example, a sister, niece, or uncle) if: 

• you do not have any other immediate family members you could sponsor, or
• you have legally adopted them and they meet the definition of a dependent child.

What are the income requirements to sponsor?

As a sponsor, you are required to sign a Sponsorship Agreement with your sponsored family member. This is a commitment by you to provide financial support for the basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, and health needs not covered by public health services) of the person you are sponsoring.

For some types of sponsorships, you will also have to meet or exceed the Low Income Cut-off (LICO), for instance if:

• you are sponsoring a spouse or partner who has a dependent child and that dependent child has one or more children of their own, or
• you are sponsoring a dependent child who has one or more dependent children of their own, or
• you are sponsoring a parent or grandparent.

If you reside in Quebec, you will have to meet Quebec’s sponsorship requirements and your income will be assessed by the Quebec immigration ministry.

What is a sponsorship undertaking?

You will be required to sign an “undertaking” making you legally responsible for the family member you are sponsoring. If that family member should need government social assistance, you will have to repay this money.

The undertaking will stay in effect for a period of time based on the family member you are sponsoring and will not be cancelled even if circumstances change (i.e. if the person you are sponsoring becomes a Canadian citizen, if you divorce or separate, if you have financial problems).

The length of the undertaking you will be required to sign will depend on the family member you are sponsoring and, in the case of children, their age:

For Quebec residents, the length of the undertaking also depends on the family member you are sponsoring and, in the case of children, their age: