Eligibility Quiz
Did you submit an 'Interest to Sponsor' form during the 2020 intake window?
Requirements
To participate in this pathway, the Canadian sponsor must meet strict eligibility and financial thresholds.
Sponsor Eligibility
- Status: You must be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, or a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act.
- Age: You must be at least 18 years old.
- Residency: You must reside in Canada at the time of application and until the sponsored relatives arrive.
- Financial Commitment (The Undertaking): You must sign a legal agreement promising to provide for the basic needs of your sponsored relatives for 20 years (10 years if you live in Quebec). This obligation remains even if your financial situation changes or the sponsored person becomes a citizen.
Income Requirements
Sponsors must prove they meet the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) for the three consecutive tax years prior to the application. The MNI is calculated based on the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) plus a 30% premium.
- Family Size Calculation: When calculating your income requirement, you must count yourself, your spouse/partner, your dependent children, the parents/grandparents you are sponsoring, and any of their dependents (even if they aren't coming to Canada).
- Proof of Income: You must provide official Notices of Assessment (NOA) from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for each of the three years.
Who Can Be Sponsored
- Your biological or adopted parents and grandparents.
- In cases of divorce or separation, you may sponsor the spouses, common-law partners, or conjugal partners of your parents and grandparents (step-parents/step-grandparents).
- Dependent children of your parents (your siblings) can be included only if they are under 22 years old and unmarried.
Conditions & Warnings
The program is officially closed for new intakes in 2026 to clear backlogs.
No new 'Interest to Sponsor' forms have been accepted since the 2020 window; recent intakes only invited those already in the 2020 pool.
Sponsors in Quebec face significantly longer wait times and different undertaking periods (10 years vs 20 years).
Qualifications
No language proficiency requirement for the sponsored parents or grandparents.
Fees
Includes $75 sponsorship fee, $540 processing fee, and $575 Right of Permanent Residence Fee. Biometrics ($85) and dependent fees are extra.