Highlights: Sponsor your family members as a Canada PR holder!
- The Immigration System of Canada aims to reunite families, helping newcomers who migrate to the country to seek a new life.
- Family sponsorships rank as the second biggest category of new Canada PRs in Canada.
- Parents, children, spouses, grandparents, and other family members can be sponsored with a Canada PR visa.
- Sponsorships can be inland and outland, depending on the applicant's residence during the process.
*Check your eligibility to Canada through the Y-Axis Canada Immigration points calculator for FREE!
Eligibility to Sponsor Your Family
IRCC allows individuals to sponsor their family if they meet the following criteria:
- Must be a Canadian citizen of or above 18 years
- Must be a Canada PR holder
Other eligibility criteria may vary depending on the program under which you are sponsoring your family.
*Willing to apply for Canada PR? Y-Axis is here to assist you with the process.
Types of Canada Sponsorships
Canada offers different sponsorship programs to let Canada PRs reunite with their family.
Some of the standard sponsorship programs are listed below:
Spousal Sponsorship
Under the spousal sponsorship program, you can sponsor your spouse or conjugal partner to come to Canada. The foreign national should be married to the sponsor or have a marriage-like relationship with the sponsor for at least 12 months to qualify as a spouse or common-law partner.
You can sponsor your family via spousal sponsorship if you meet the following requirements:
- The sponsor should offer financial support to the family member for at least three years without receiving social assistance from the government.
- For outland sponsorships, the sponsor is required to stay in the country during the application process.
- Both partners must reside in Canada during the application process for inland sponsorships, and the spouse must possess a temporary residence as a student, visitor or worker.
Dependent child sponsorship
You can sponsor your children or dependents via the Dependent child sponsorships, provided you meet the following requirements:
- As a sponsor, you must be above 18 years old.
- You must be a Canadian PR holder willing to support your dependent child for at least ten years or until the child turns 25, whichever is before.
- Your child must be below 22 years old, unmarried, and not in a common-law relationship.
- Dependent children above 22 years can be sponsored if they are disabled, have been studying continuously, or rely on the sponsor for other valid reasons since turning 22.
*Note: Parents are advised to apply for dependent sponsorship before the child turns 22 to avoid disqualification due to age.
Steps to apply for a dependent child sponsorship
You can follow the two simple steps given below:
- Submit your sponsorship profile to the IRCC
- Once approved, apply for PR on your child’s behalf
*Looking to apply for a Dependent Visa? Let Y-Axis help you with the steps!
Parents and Grandparents sponsorship
PGP is one of the most popular immigration pathways to bring parents and grandparents as PR in Canada. It is a lottery-based program that happens once a year and allows Canadian citizens to sponsor their parents and grandparents.
Upon completing an interest to sponsor, eligible candidates are placed in a candidate pool. If the application gets selected, the applicant must apply on behalf of the person getting sponsored. The sponsor commits to providing housing, food, medical, and other financial expenses.
Besides PGP, applicants may also explore Canada's Super Visa Program, which allows parents and grandparents to stay in Canada for up to five years without requiring a visa renewal. The super visa is valid for up to ten years and is more flexible than PGP. Super visas are processed within weeks and can be renewed for more extended stays.
*Want to apply for a Canada super visa? Let Y-Axis help you with the procedure.
Brother, sister, nephew, niece and grandchildren
Canada offers special cases wherein Canada PRs can sponsor their orphaned siblings, nieces, nephews or grandchildren, provided they meet the given requirements:
- They are blood-related or are legally adopted by you or your parents
- Both of their parents are deceased
- They are minors below 18 years of age and unmarried.
You cannot sponsor your brother, sister, niece, nephew or grandchildren if:
- Either of their parents are still alive
- The whereabouts of their parents are not known
- Their parents have abandoned them
- They have been legally adopted by someone else, and either one of the parents is still alive.
- Either of the parents is serving as a prisoner or is incarcerated.
Sponsoring other relatives
Canadian citizens and PR holders can sponsor other relatives or anyone who is related by blood or adoption only if they are not sponsoring any of the living relatives mentioned below:
- Spouse
- Domestic or conjugal partner
- Dependent children
- Parents
- Grandparents
- Orphaned siblings
- Orphaned grandchildren
- Orphaned nieces or nephews
The sponsor should not have other relatives who are:
- Citizens of Canada
- Canadian permanent residents
*Are you looking for step-by-step assistance for Canada immigration? Talk to Y-Axis, the leading Overseas Immigration Company in the UAE.
For recent Immigration updates, do check out Y-Axis Canada Immigration news.
If you found this article interesting, you may also want to read more news on Canada…
Why you cannot become a Canadian citizen?
28,280 parents and grandparents get permanent residents of Canada in 2023