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Family Member Sponsorship

If you want to be reunited in Canada with a relative or family member living abroad, you must sponsor that relative or family member to immigrate as a member of the Family Class.

To sponsor a relative or family member you must sign an undertaking with the minister of Citizenship and Immigration. This is a promise to the Government of Canada that you will support the person you sponsor and their family members for a period of 3 to 10 years so that they will not need to apply for social assistance.

You must also sign a sponsorship agreement with your relative or family member that outlines your mutual commitments to each other. You promise to provide for the basic requirements of the person you sponsor and their family members for the duration of the undertaking. The person you sponsor promises to make every effort to become self-supporting (unless they are elderly).

Are You Eligible For Partner Sponsorship?

You can sponsor close family members living abroad, including:

• Parents;
• Grandparents;
• Children adopted outside of Canada or intended to be adopted in Canada;
• Brothers or sisters, nephews or nieces, grandsons or granddaughters who are orphaned, under 18 years of age and not a spouse or common-law partner;
• Any other family member if there is no spouse, common-law or conjugal partner, son, daughter, mother, father, brother, sister, grandfather, grandmother, uncle, aunt, niece or nephew who is a Canadian citizen, registered Indian or permanent resident or whom you may sponsor.

Sponsors living in the province of Quebec who wish to obtain further information on the province's sponsorship requirements should contact the Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l'Immigration.

The medical requirements for spouses, common-law partners, conjugal partners and dependent children are different from the medical requirements that must be met for other members of the Family Class.

Up-front medical examination allows applicants (your spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner or dependent children) to take the medical examination before the applications for sponsorship and permanent residence are submitted.

 Are You Eligible For Child Sponsorship?