April 20, 2023
How Can I Sponsor my Parents to Live in Canada?
One of the guiding principles of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act is family reunification.[1] In line with this, individuals in Canada who meet certain eligibility requirements can sponsor their parents to become permanent residents.
To sponsor a parent, you must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or registered as an Indian under the Indian Act, be over 18 years old and live in Canada.[2] You must also be able to prove that you can financially support your parent(s). As of the most recent update in 2022, a person sponsoring 2 people needed annual income of at least $32,898, $32,270, and $41,007 in the three years before applying.[3] You must also make an undertaking to support your parent(s) financially for 20 years and repay any social assistance they get from the government during that time. Your parent must also meet all other requirements to be admissible to Canada.
In sponsoring a parent, you may sponsor any parent, whether biological or adoptive, and you can include siblings, half-siblings, or step-siblings in the application if they are dependents. In the case of divorce, you will not be able to sponsor both parents in the same application.
The procedure to sponsor a parent is to first submit an “interest to sponsor” form. In 2022, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) randomly selected and invited potential sponsors with the goal of accepting up to 15,000 complete applications.[4] If you are invited to apply, you can then submit two applications: your application to become a sponsor, and your parent(s) application for permanent residence.