Requirement for Sponsor

Requirements for the Sponsor

In addition to being a Canadian citizen or Canadian permanent resident, the sponsor must meet certain requirements for Family Class Immigration Sponsorship.

Sponsorship applicants are subject to the following requirements:

• The sponsor must demonstrate the financial ability to provide the Family Sponsorship immigrant and dependents with their essential needs, should they be unable to provide for themselves, including the following:
  • Food, clothing, shelter and other basic requirements of everyday living; and
  • Dental and eye care, as well as other health needs not covered by public health services available to all Canadian citizens and Canadian permanent residents.
• The following agreements must be entered into with the government of Canada or Quebec:
  • The sponsor must agree to provide the immigrant with essential needs for a prescribed period of time; and
  • If the sponsored relative is over 19 years of age and not elderly, and the sponsor promises to support the sponsored person(s) for a prescribed period of time, the sponsored person(s) must promise to make every effort to become self-supporting.
• The sponsor must have either:
  • Physical residency in Canada; or
  • For Canadian citizens sponsoring a spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, or dependent child, a demonstrated intention to reside in Canada by the time the sponsored family member lands in Canada as a permanent resident.
• In addition, the Sponsor must be at least 18 years old, not in prison, not bankrupt, not under a removal order (if a permanent resident), and not charged with a serious offence.

 

Financial Ability

Family Class Sponsorship for those Residing in Canada (Excluding Quebec)

The Financial requirements for Canada Family Class Sponsorship for those residing in Canada (excluding Quebec) are as follows:
A sponsor must demonstrate a level of income that meets the minimum necessary income or low-income cut-off (LICO) for a given family size, as established by Statistics Canada. The sponsor is freed from this requirement if:

• The individual requiring sponsorship is the spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner of the Canadian sponsor; or
• The individual requiring sponsorship is the dependent child of the Canadian sponsor.

To determine if the sponsor’s total income is sufficient, one must deduct the following from the total family income:

• Workmen’s compensation board payments, except for permanent disabilities;
• Payments from provincial or municipal sources for welfare assistance;
• Payments from federal, provincial, or municipal sources for employment training, or for any social or welfare benefits which are not of a fixed and continuing nature; and
• All debts.

The resulting amount must exceed the minimum income levels shown in this chart:

If the Sponsor is unable to demonstrate a financial ability to provide for the essential needs of the immigrant, his or her spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner may act as a co-signer, if:

• Their combined income meets the minimum necessary income; and
• The co-signer meets all the other sponsorship requirements of a valid sponsor.

 

Family Class Sponsorship for those Residing in Quebec

Financial requirements for Canada Family Class Sponsorship for those residing in Quebec are as follows.
A Canadian sponsor residing in Quebec must demonstrate a level of income that meets the minimum income for a given family size, as established by the Quebec government in the chart below. The sponsor is free from this requirement if:

• The individual requiring sponsorship is the spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner of the Canadian sponsor; or
• The individual requiring sponsorship is the dependent child of a Canadian sponsor.

The sponsor must be able to prove a steady income and one that has consistently exceeded the low income cut-off over the last 12 months.
Basic needs of sponsor and dependent persons:

Number of dependent persons	Gross annual income of sponsor
0	$22,147
1	$29,897
2	$36,912
3	$42,452
4	$47,247
Each additional dependent	$4,795

Basic needs of Sponsored Person(s):

Persons 18 and over	Persons under 18	Annual gross amount required by sponsor
0	1	$7,666
0	2	$12,150
The annual gross amount required is increased by $4,008 for each additional person under 18.
1	0	$16,200
1	1	$21,766
1	2	$24,576
The annual gross amount required is increased by $2,778 for each additional person under 18.
2	0	$23,756
2	1	$26,613
2	2	$28,728
The annual gross amount required is increased by $2,109 for each additional person under 18 and by $7,553 for each additional person over 18.

 

Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) for Family Sponsorship

In order to sponsor a family member for permanent residence in Canada, sponsors must exceed the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) for the program.

The MNI varies depending on the number of family members being supported in Canada, the location of the sponsor in Canada, and the number of family members being sponsored.
For parent and grandparent sponsorship, the sponsor in Canada will only be eligible if they exceed the MNI for three consecutive years (except in the province of Quebec, see below). This requirement was added to ensure that sponsors who bring their parents and grandparents to Canada are ready for the financial responsibility that often comes with caring for elderly family members.

Federal Income Table, 2016

The following chart lays out Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) figures, plus 30 per cent.
These figures represent the MNI for the program for individuals living in Canada outside the Province of Quebec:

Note: It is expected that applicants applying in 2017 must provide proof of income from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for the taxation years of 2015, 2014 and 2013.

 

Quebec

Sponsors living in the province of Quebec must meet different MNI figures. Sponsors are presumed capable of fulfilling an undertaking if, over the past 12 months, they have had gross income from Canadian sources equal to the total of the income appearing in Table 1 and Table 2 below. The income in both tables is indexed each year.

Size of Family Unit	MNI
1 person	$22,590
2 persons	$30,495
3 persons	$37,650
4 persons	$43,301
5 persons	$48,192
More than 5 persons, for each additional person add	$4,891

Table 2 below refers solely to the persons being sponsored. Principal applicants should add the relevant figure from Table 1 above to the relevant figure in the right-side column of Table 2 to arrive at the total minimum income required.

Additional income required of the sponsor to satisfy the basic needs of the sponsored person and his or her family members
Number of persons 18 years of age or over	Number of persons under 18 years	Gross annual income required of the sponsor
	1	$7,819
	2	$12,393
The gross annual income required increases by $4,133 for each additional person under 18 years of age.
Number of persons 18 years of age or over	Number of persons under 18 years	Gross annual income required of the sponsor
1		$16,524
1	1	$22,201
1	2	$25,068
The gross annual income required increases by $2,865 for each additional person under 18 years of age.
Number of persons 18 years of age or over	Number of persons under 18 years	Gross annual income required of the sponsor
2		$24,231
2	1	$27,145
2	2	$29,303
The gross annual income required increases by $2,151 for each additional person under 18 years of age and by $7,704 for each additional person 18 years of age or over.