Canadian citizens and permanent residents can sponsor their spouse or partner, and children to live with them and become permanent residents of Canada.

Sponsorship of a spouse/partner or children in Canada means providing financial support for their basic needs:

• Housing, including utility bills;
• Food and personal hygiene products;
• Clothing and other items necessary for daily living;
• Medical expenses uncovered by public health insurance, such as dental and eye care.

Requirements 

You can sponsor your spouse, partner, or dependent child if:

• You’re at least 18 years old
• You’re a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act
• You’re able to prove that you’re not receiving social assistance for reasons other than a disability
• you can provide for the basic needs of any persons you want to sponsor

Notes:

• If you’re a Canadian citizen living outside Canada, you must show that you plan to live in Canada when the persons you want to sponsor become permanent residents.
• You can’t sponsor someone if you’re a permanent resident living outside Canada.

Who you can sponsor?

You can sponsor your spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, or dependent children.

Your spouse

Your spouse can be either sex and must be:

• legally married to you
• at least 18 years old

Your common-law partner

Your common-law partner:

• isn't legally married to you
• can be either sex
• is at least 18 years old
• has been living with you for at least 12 consecutive months, meaning you’ve been living together continuously for 1 year in a conjugal relationship, without any long periods apart

Any time spent away from each other should have been short and temporary. 

Your conjugal partner

• isn’t legally married to you or in a common-law relationship with you
• can be either sex
• is at least 18 years old
• has been in a relationship with you for at least 1 year
• lives outside Canada
• can't live with you in their country of residence or marry you because of significant legal and immigration reasons such as:
  • their marital status (for example, they’re still married to someone else in a country where divorce isn’t possible)
  • their sexual orientation (for example, you are in a same-sex relationship, and same-sex relationships are not accepted, or same-sex marriage is illegal where they live),
  • persecution (for example, your relationship is between different religious groups which is not accepted and they may be punished legally or socially)

You’ll need to give proof that you could not live together or get married in your conjugal partner’s country (for example, proof of refused long-term stays in each other’s country).

Dependent children

Children qualify as dependants if they meet both of these requirements:

• they’re under 22 years old
• they don’t have a spouse or common-law partner

Children 22 years old or older qualify as dependants if they meet both of these requirements:

• they are unable to financially support themselves because of a mental or physical condition
• they have depended on their parents for financial support since before the age of 22