Family Sponsorship
If you're a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or registered under the Indian Act, you may be able to sponsor close family members to become permanent residents so they can live, study, and work in Canada. The spouse/partner/child and other-relative streams are open; the Parents and Grandparents Program currently runs by invitation only.
Draft · pending_review
Current status
- Spouse, partner or dependent child — Open.
- Other eligible relatives — Open (processing varies by country).
- Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) — by invitation only. The 2025 intake closed on 9 October 2025 (invitations went to people who had submitted an interest-to-sponsor form in 2020). New Ministerial Instructions took effect 1 January 2026, and IRCC says details of the next intake will be announced on its website and social media.
What it is
Family sponsorship lets eligible people in Canada bring certain family members in as permanent residents. The main streams are:
- your spouse, common-law or conjugal partner, and dependent children,
- your parents and grandparents (PGP),
- certain other relatives in limited situations, and
- an adopted child.
Who you can sponsor
- Spouse / partner / child: your spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, or dependent child.
- Parents and grandparents: your parents and grandparents (by blood or adoption); their dependent children (e.g. your siblings, if they qualify as dependants); and, if a parent/grandparent is divorced, their current spouse or partner.
- Other relatives: certain relatives may be sponsored in limited circumstances.
Becoming a sponsor
Requirements vary by stream. To sponsor parents and grandparents, for example, you must:
- be at least 18 years old,
- live in Canada (and keep your main home here until a decision is made),
- be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or a person registered under the Indian Act,
- have enough income to support the people you sponsor (you'll provide proof of income; a spouse or partner may co-sign to combine incomes), and
- meet all other requirements under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations.
You must also sign an undertaking (see below).
The undertaking — a long commitment
As a sponsor you sign an undertaking: a promise to financially support the people you sponsor and to make sure they don't need social assistance. If they receive social assistance while you're responsible for them, you must repay it.
For parents and grandparents the undertaking period is 20 years (10 years in Quebec), starting the day they become permanent residents. Once they become PR, the undertaking can't be cancelled or shortened — it holds even if your relationship changes, you move, or you hit financial trouble.
Costs & processing times
Fees (all increased 30 April 2026):
- Spouse or partner: from $1,260
- Dependent child: from $180
- Other relative under 22: from $780; 22 or older: from $1,260
- Parents and grandparents: from $1,260
Processing times vary by stream and country — check IRCC's processing-times tool, and confirm current fees on IRCC's fee page before paying.