Family Class Immigration Information

Almost 29% of all immigrants come to join close family members in Canada. Find out who is eligible and how to sponsor a family member abroad. Canadian citizens and permanent residents living in Canada, 19 years of age or older, may sponsor close family members who wish to immigrate to Canada. Sponsors must agree to support the family member and accompanying dependents for 10 years, to help them settle in Canada.

Family members eligible for sponsorship are:

• Spouses
• Parents, Grandparents
• Fiancé(e)s
• dependent children, including adopted children
• children under 19 whom the sponsor intends to adopt
• brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, or grandchildren who are orphans unmarried and under age 19
• any other relative if the sponsor has none of the above family members either in Canada or abroad.

A dependent son or daughter is either:

• under the age of 19 and unmarried,
• a full-time student since the age of 19 and financially supported by the parents,
  OR
• financially supported by the parents because of a disability.

Applying as a family class immigrant

If you wish to be reunited with a close family member in Canada, your relative in Canada must first apply to sponsor you. You eligibility is dependent on the criteria mentioned above. Both you and your sponsor will sign an agreement saying that your sponsor will support you financially for 10 years so that you will not apply for welfare and that you will make an effort to become self-supporting (unless you are elderly).

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