In special situations, you can bring certain relatives to Canada: a brother, sister, nephew, grandchild, etc.

Who can sponsor

To be eligible to sponsor certain relatives, you must:

• be 18 years of age or older;
• live in Canada;
• be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

You will also need to:

• meet established income guidelines;
• agree in writing to financially support a sponsored relative for a period of 3 to 20 years (depending on age and relationship).

Your sponsored person (over the age of 18) must sign an agreement that they will make every effort to support themselves.

Who cannot be a sponsor

You cannot sponsor a relative if:

• are in prison;
• have not paid child support;
• declared bankruptcy;
• are receiving social assistance for any reason other than disability;
• have defaulted on an immigration loan, or have defaulted or missed payments;
• have sponsored a relative previously but defaulted;
• have been convicted of a violent criminal offense, any crime against a relative, or any sex offense inside or outside of Canada.

Who you can sponsor

Depending on your situation there are two options.

A brother, sister, nephew or grandchild

You may be able to sponsor any of these relatives if:

• they are related to you by blood or were adopted;
• their mom and dad are deceased;
• they are under the age of 18;
• they are not in a civil or marital relationship.

Other relative

You'll be able to sponsor one relative of any age related by blood or adopted if:

• you have no living relative you can sponsor: spouse, partner, child, parent, grandparent or one of those listed in the paragraph above;
• you do not have a relative (aunt, uncle or one of those listed above) who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

If the relative you are sponsoring has a spouse, partner or dependent children who will be coming to Canada with them, you must list them on the same sponsorship application.

Fees

Step-by-step sponsorship process

You must submit a sponsorship application and a permanent residency application for your relatives at the same time.
The sponsorship process consists of 3 main steps.

1. Prepare an application packet.

Available at this link. Includes:

• a detailed guide;
• forms to be filled out;
• a list of required documents.

All information on your application must be true.
The people you are sponsoring must provide information about their close family members. They will need to obtain a police certificate and undergo a medical examination. Otherwise, the sponsored relative will not be able to sponsor themselves in the future.

2. Pay the fees.

In most cases, fees will include:

• sponsorship fee;
• a fee for permanent residency in Canada;
• biometrics fee.

All fees must be paid online at this link. You can also calculate the fees for your specific situation there.

3. Submit your application.

You can use either regular mail or a courier service to send it.