Other Relative Sponsorship (Lonely Canadian)

To sponsor a relative under this pathway, you must submit a dual application: your application to be a sponsor and your relative’s application for permanent residence. The entire process is managed online through the Permanent Residence Portal.

Step 1: Confirm Your Category

Before applying, you must determine which of the two specific "Other Relative" categories you fall under:

• Orphaned Close Relatives: You are sponsoring a brother, sister, nephew, niece, or grandchild who is under 18, single, and whose biological/legal parents are both deceased.
• The "Lonely Canadian" Exception: You are sponsoring one relative of any age related by blood or adoption. You can only do this if you do not have a living spouse, partner, child, parent, grandparent, sibling, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece who is a Canadian citizen, Permanent Resident, or Registered Indian, and you have no such relatives living abroad whom you could otherwise sponsor.

Step 2: Prepare the Application Package

Download and follow Guide 5196. You will need to gather:

• Proof of Income: Your Notice of Assessment (NOA) from the Canada Revenue Agency for the most recent tax year to prove you meet the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI).
• Proof of Relationship: Birth certificates or official family registers.
• Proof of Status: Death certificates of both parents (for orphaned minors) or proof that you have no other living relatives (for the "Lonely Canadian" rule).
• Identity Documents: Your Canadian passport or PR card, and your relative’s passport and digital photos.

Step 3: Submit via the PR Portal

Create an account on the IRCC Permanent Residence Portal. Upload all digital forms and scanned documents. You must pay your fees online and include the receipt in your upload.

Step 4: Sponsorship Assessment

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) first reviews your eligibility as a sponsor. They will check your income and your signed undertaking (a legal promise to provide for your relative’s basic needs for 10 years).

Step 5: Relative Assessment and Biometrics

Once you are approved as a sponsor, IRCC will process your relative’s permanent residency. Your relative will receive instructions to:

• Provide Biometrics (fingerprints and photo) at a local collection point.
• Complete a medical exam with an IRCC-approved panel physician.
• Provide police certificates from every country they have lived in for 6 months or more since age 18.

Step 6: Quebec Requirements (If Applicable)

If you live in Quebec, you must first submit the federal application to IRCC. Once you receive a "Letter of Approval in Principle" from IRCC, you must then apply to the provincial government for a Certificat de sélection du Québec (CSQ—Quebec Selection Certificate).

Item	Cost (CAD)
Sponsorship Fee	$85
Principal Applicant Processing Fee (Adult)	$545
Principal Applicant Processing Fee (Minor under 22)	$85
Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF)	$575
Biometrics (Per person)	$95

• Total Estimate (Adult Relative): $1,300
• Total Estimate (Orphaned Minor): $265 (Minors are exempt from the RPRF).

Does not include: Costs for medical exams, police certificates, certified translations of non-English/French documents, or DNA testing if requested by IRCC to prove a biological relationship.

• Average Processing Range: 12 to 24 months.
• Complex Cases: "Lonely Canadian" applications often take 24 to 36 months as officers must verify the global absence of other living relatives.
• Quebec Applicants: Expect significantly longer wait times (often double the standard range) due to provincial admission caps.

Document Validity:

• Medical Exams: Generally valid for 12 months.
• Police Certificates: Generally valid for 1 year from the date of issue for the country where the relative currently lives.