Spousal Sponsorship

To sponsor, you must be 18 or older and hold Canadian citizenship, permanent resident status, or Registered Indian status. That is what the official guide says. You have to live in Canada too. A citizen who is abroad can still apply, as long as they can show they plan to move back once the person they sponsor becomes a permanent resident.

For the most part, there is no minimum income for sponsoring a spouse or partner, which many first-time sponsors are glad to hear. You do need to show you can pay for everyday basics for yourself and for the person you are sponsoring.

The exception is a household with three generations. If your spouse or partner is supporting a dependent child, and that child is raising a little one of their own, the income requirement kicks in. The eligibility page points to the Financial Evaluation Form, which sets out the amounts a sponsor must meet.

If you have a common-law partner, the process is the same. Same package, same fee, same rules as for a married spouse. The guide handles spouses, common-law partners, and conjugal partners together, so there is no separate process to hunt down.

Does your partner already share your home in Canada? Then your application goes through the in-Canada class for spouses and common-law partners. Your partner may qualify for an Open Work Permit under that class, so they can work while they wait for a decision.

When you sign an undertaking, you are committing in writing to cover the basics for the person you sponsor, and for their dependent children, over a fixed number of years. Basics cover food, clothing, a place to live, day-to-day costs, plus dental, eye, and other health care that public health services do not pay for.

The guide asks you to make sure, before you sign, that the people you sponsor will not need public money to get by. Did a person you sponsored earlier receive social assistance while your undertaking was still running? Then you cannot sponsor anyone else until you have paid back every dollar of it.

Here is how long the promise runs outside Quebec:

What you pay hinges on who is included in the application, and how long you wait hinges on where your spouse is living at the time you apply. IRCC also warns that waits grow when more people apply than Canada can admit in a year. So read these numbers as a guide, not a guarantee.

The IRCC processing times tool is the source of these waits, and the numbers shift over time.

Since 23 September 2022, you must submit your application through the online system. If a disability or some other reason stops you from applying that way, you can ask for a paper version, or one in braille or large print.

The official guide splits the work into five steps:

1. Download your application kit, so every form and instruction is in hand.
2. Collect your documents, since a missing paper is the number one cause of delay.
3. Fill in the application, with each of you and your spouse completing your own sections.
4. Pay the fees.
5. Run through the list of common mistakes before you submit.

Certain things in your past can put a sponsorship on hold. If you yourself came to Canada as a sponsored spouse or partner and got permanent residence fewer than five years ago, you cannot sponsor yet. The five years count even if you became a citizen in the meantime. The same bar applies if you signed an undertaking for an earlier spouse or partner and fewer than three years have passed since they became a permanent resident. The eligibility page lists all of this.

There are more reasons, and they cover sponsoring a spouse, partner, or child. Falling behind on court-ordered support payments like alimony or child support is one. Failing to give the financial support you promised in a past sponsorship is another. An undischarged bankruptcy counts, and so does a removal order telling you to leave Canada. If you are sponsoring someone in Quebec, the first three do not apply.

If IRCC finds you are not eligible, it will give you its reasons.

Sponsors living in Quebec follow the federal steps, and on top of that they must satisfy Quebec's own conditions to become a sponsor. That includes meeting any income rules Quebec sets and signing a separate undertaking with Quebec's government. The federal undertaking length set out for the rest of Canada does not hold there, so look at Quebec's rules to learn how long your promise will run.