Family reunification

Have you become a permanent resident or a Canadian citizen and would like to reunite your family and live with them in Canada?

The Family Sponsorship Program allows you to sponsor members of your immediate family to become permanent residents.

To ensure the success of your sponsorship application, a number of criteria must be met by both the sponsored person and the sponsor.

General requirements for sponsoring a family member

• Be at least 18 years old
• Be a permanent resident or Canadian citizen
• Be able to demonstrate that you will be able to provide financial support to your family member while he or she is in Canada.
• Not receiving social assistance for any reason other than disability;

If the sponsor lives in Quebec, he or she will have to meet Quebec requirements as well, once we have approved him or her as a sponsor.

Who can be sponsored?

Not all members of your family are eligible for sponsorship under the family reunification program. Eligible persons are :

• Spouses or common-law partners (living together for at least 12 consecutive months)
• Dependent children
• Parents and grandparents.

Spouses or common-law partners

The sponsor must meet the preliminary criteria listed above, and must not have a criminal record or be under a deportation order from Canada.

The specific criteria that apply to the sponsored person are as follows:

• Be at least 18 years old
• Not be related to you by blood

Provide proof of your relationship with the sponsored person.

Sponsorship of dependent children

Dependent children are your biological or adopted children

To sponsor them, you must meet the above criteria.

The 2 specific criteria applicable to sponsored dependent children are:

• Be in one of the following situations:
  • Be under 22 and single
  • Studying
  • Being financially dependent on your parent
  • Be 22 years of age or older and never have been able to be financially independent due to a physical or mental condition.
  • Be the biological child of the parent or the adopted child of the parent
• They have no spouse or common-law partner.

Sponsoring parents and grandparents

In addition to the 10-year Super Visa for Parents and Grandparents, you can also sponsor your parents or grandparents to immigrate to Canada and become permanent residents. To do this, you need to meet the following specific criteria:

To sponsor your own biological or adopted parents or grandparents, you must :

• be invited to submit an application;
• be at least 18 years old;
• living in Canada;
• be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada
• have enough money to support the people you want to sponsor;
• you and your parents and grandparents meet all other requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

As a sponsor you must

• financially support your sponsored family members for 20 years from the time they become permanent residents;
• repay all provincial social assistance benefits (money paid by the government) received by your sponsored family members during this period.

Do you need help submitting your application? Contact us, we can help you determine if a sponsorship is possible.

Other family member

Orphaned brother, sister, nephew, niece, grandson or granddaughter

You can sponsor an orphaned brother, sister, nephew, niece, grandson or granddaughter only if they meet all the following conditions:

• are related to you by blood or adoption
• their father and mother are deceased
• under 18 years of age
• single (not married, no common-law or conjugal partner)

Other close relatives

You can sponsor a close relative of any age, to whom you are related by blood or through an adoption process, if you meet all the following conditions:

• You (the person wishing to sponsor) do not have a living relative that you could sponsor instead, such as (a husband or wife, a spouse or common-law partner, a conjugal partner, a grandfather or grandmother, an orphaned brother or sister, etc.).

You (the potential sponsor) do not have a close relative (uncle or aunt or any of the family members listed above) who is: a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident

Provincial candidate

This program allows the various provinces and territories to choose from among people wishing to immigrate to Canada and interested in settling permanently in their particular province or territory.

Each province and territory in Canada, with the exception of Quebec , has its own program with specific criteria adapted to its particular needs.