Can you sponsor your spouse or other family member to Canada if you don’t have a job?
YES!
You do not need to be employed in order to be a sponsor. You can have a job, or be self-employed, or unemployed but supporting yourself with other means such as savings or investments. However, you cannot be on social welfare if you are applying to be a sponsor (more below).
You can also sponsor a spouse, partner, or child if you are a fulltime student. You can be a sponsor if you live at home with family. You can even sponsor if you are on CERB, EI, or disability, as it is not considered social welfare. This applies to both In-Canada Sponsorship and Family Class (Overseas) Sponsorship applications.
How much money you need to make depends entirely on who you are sponsoring.
Sponsoring a spouse, common-law partner, or child
If you are sponsoring a spouse, partner, or child, there is no minimum amount of money that you need to make per year – you are exempt from the Minimum Necessary Income requirement.
You simply need to meet the other requirements to be a sponsor, such as being 18 years old and a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. You also must not be subject to any bars against sponsorship, such as having been convicted of certain criminal offences or being in undischarged bankruptcy or on welfare.
Sponsoring a parent, grandparent, one of their dependent children, or other family member
If you are sponsoring your mom, dad, grandma, or granddad, any of their family members, or another family member not already mentioned, then you must meet the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) + 30% for the last 3 tax years.
The Minimum Necessary Income is calculated based on family size. Family size includes the sponsor, the sponsor’s spouse, any children of the sponsor who are 21 and under (or other dependents), plus the members of the family who are being sponsored.
Total number of persons you would be responsible for
Minimum income required for the 3 taxation years right before the date of your application
2018
2017
2016
2015
2 persons
$40,379
$39,813
$39,372
$38,618
3 persons
$49,641
$48,945
$48,404
$47,476
4 persons
$60,271
$59,426
$58,768
$57,642
5 persons
$68,358
$67,400
$66,654
$65,377
6 persons
$77,095
$76,015
$75,174
$73,733
7 persons
$85,835
$84,631
$83,695
$82,091
If more than 7 persons, for each additional person, add:
$8,740
$8,616
$8,521
$8,358
Regardless of who you are sponsoring, you must continue to meet the financial and other requirements for sponsorship throughout the processing time of the application up until the time the principal applicant (person being sponsored) lands in Canada and becomes a permanent resident.
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Contact us if you aren’t sure whether you meet the requirements to sponsor your spouse or other family member.
This is one of the questions that people ask most frequently, and sometimes the answer is not always obvious. There is a lot of misinformation out there, and I even fell victim to it myself back when I was sponsored to Canada in 2008 (long before I was an immigration consultant!). Had I been in a less privileged position, I might have found myself locked out of Canada.
Here are some guidelines to help you make the best choice.
In-Canada Class
Family Class
Applicant Eligible for Work Permit
N/A
Applicant must reside in Canada
Applicant can travel as much as they want
Interview almost never convoked
Interviews can be frequent / Applicant will have to return to country of nationality for interview if in Canada
No right of appeal
Right of appeal per s.63 of IRPA
Applicant cannot be deported for lack of status once application received by IRCC
N/A
Is your spouse or common-law partner in Canada, or can they get here?
To apply for PR under the In-Canada Class sponsorship, your husband, wife, or partner needs to be physically present in Canada – no exceptions. For this reason, the In-Canada Class application is used most frequently by people who do not need a visa to enter Canada such as Americans, Australians, and most Europeans.
If it is not possible for your spouse to come to Canada, then Family Class sponsorship is your only choice.
Is your spouse OK with living primarily in Canada for the duration of the application processing time – approximately 8 – 12 months?
There are a lot of ugly rumours about In-Canada Class sponsorship applicants not being allowed to leave Canada while their application is in process. Here is the truth: Yes, your spouse is required to live in Canada to be eligible for In-Canada processing. But this does not mean that they are unable to leave.
In-Canada Class applicants are allowed to travel outside Canada on vacation, for work, to visit family, or for any other reason. They just should not travel outside Canada too frequently or remain outside Canada for too long.
There is no set number of days that applicants need to be in Canada – this is at the discretion of immigration officers. However, if an officer does not allow the applicant to re-enter Canada for any reason, then the In-Canada Class application will end up being refused.
*If the applicant is on implied status and they leave Canada, they will lose implied status and their ability to work in Canada until their new work permit is issued if they were on implied status as a worker.
**If the applicant is out of status in Canada (has no legal status due to an overstay or other reason), they should not leave Canada at all during the processing of their sponsorship application. Once an In-Canada Class sponsorship application is received for a person who is out of status, they cannot be asked to leave Canada solely because they are out of status. People who are out of status should generally only use the In-Canada Class.
Are you and your partner already married?
You do not have to already be married for your spouse to enter Canada and for you to sponsor them – you can get married in Canada, and it’s easy! You are not required to leave Canada to get married or to enter Canada as a married couple in order to do In-Canada Class spousal sponsorship.
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If your spouse is inside Canada or can get to Canada, and they are comfortable living in Canada until a decision is made, then In-Canada Class is frequently the best option. However, sponsorship applicants are still allowed to use the Family Class application even if they are physically present in Canada.
An In-Canada Class sponsorship application allows applicants to get a 2-year open work permit while their application is in process. In-Canada Class sponsorship applicants also very, very rarely have to attend an in-person interview with an immigration officer – depending on which country the applicant is from, interviews can be costly and also cause a large increase in processing times.
If restrictions on travel are not practical for the applicant, then Family Class is usually the better option. Even if the applicant is in Canada, with the Family Class sponsorship application, they can travel as much as they need to. Family Class applicants still need to meet the requirements to be let back into Canada, but the application will not be refused if the applicant is refused entry to Canada for some reason.
Family Class sponsorship also allows the right of appeal if the application is refused – this is not allowed with an In-Canada Class application. However, applicants also have the right to submit a new application in both cases.
Is your partner out of status (illegal) in Canada?
If the applicant for PR is out of status in Canada, such as having overstayed on a visa or after their work permit expired, then you need to use the In-Canada Class to sponsor them for two reasons:
Once the application is received by IRCC, the applicant cannot be deported for being out of status in Canada
Applicants without status in Canada can still be granted PR, whereas applicants under other streams for PR (such as the Family Class) must have valid status in order to become a permanent resident.
See our guide for sponsorship of out of status sponsorship applicants HERE.
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There is no one-size-fits-all answer to whether you should choose In-Canada Class sponsorship or Family Class sponsorship. One is not better than the other. You simply have to choose the one that is right for your family.
Contact us for more information about both options and how the rules will apply to your case.
Here are the most common mistakes that we have found people make on their In-Canada class spousal sponsorship or common-law sponsorship applications:
1. Not including most recent Canadian entry stamp AND copy of flight itinerary to show current status in Canada
The biggest benefit of submitting an In-Canada class sponsorship application is that the principal applicant can get a two-year open work permit.
BUT, in order to be eligible to receive the work permit, the applicant MUST demonstrate that they have valid temporary status in Canada (as a visitor, worker, or student) at the time that the sponsorship and work permit applications are received by IRCC.
If you do not demonstrate that your status in Canada is valid, your work permit application can be refused.
These days, CBSA is not making this any easier as many, many temporary residents of Canada are not receiving a stamp in their passport showing the date of their last entry. If you are entering Canada, you can just ask CBSA to stamp your passport. But if you forget, don’t worry.
Include a copy of your flight itinerary to show the date you departed and the date that you arrived in Canada. We also recommend including an explanation of why you don’t have an entry stamp just to make sure there is no doubt that you are in valid status and eligible for your work permit.
2. Not including ALL step-children, step-siblings, and half-siblings on the Additional Family Info form (IMM5406)
If the sponsor has children, don’t forget this makes them the principal applicant’s step children and they should be included on the family info form.
If the principal applicant has half or step-siblings, make sure they’re included on the form and specified as half-siblings – no one should be left off the form.
3. If your native language does not use the Latin alphabet (Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese, Urdu, Hindi to name a few), make sure to write all names on the Additional Family Info form IMM5406 in their native language.
This is a tricky one – if you leave the native language off of the form, the application will be returned as incomplete.
Make sure that the names of all family members listed are written in the native language. If you don’t have the characters of the native language on your computer, you can write them in by hand after you have printed out the form.
4. Not making sure that the sponsor’s employment history and address history go back the full 5 years on the relationship info form IMM5532
A really common mistake that people make is either leaving gaps in the history or not taking the history back far enough.
Even a gap of one month can cause the entire application to be deemed ‘incomplete’ and returned. All historical accounts should be included with no gaps in between the occurrences.
For example, if you finished one job in April and then started a new one in June, you would still need to include that during the month of May you were unemployed.
5. Make sure that any previous application refusals are discussed in the Schedule A form IMM5669
No matter the reason for any previous refusal of an application such as a refused visitor visa or work permit, this refusal MUST be disclosed on the Schedule A form.
Failure to disclose a prior refusal could lead the applicant into the territory of misrepresentation, which is the absolute worst case scenario in Canadian immigration. Those found to have misrepresented face a 5-year bar from becoming a permanent resident. Don’t ever do it!
6. Translations MUST meet all of the requirements for Canadian immigration, regardless of where they were done. This includes a certified copy of the original foreign-language document and translator’s declaration as necessary.
Problems with translations happen most frequently when translations are done outside Canada. Translation services in Canada can be very expensive, so having the documents translated in their country of issue can sometimes save a lot of money especially if you have a lot of documents to translate.
However, translators abroad frequently are not familiar with the Canadian government requirements. If you submit an application with translations that do not meet the requirements, the application can be returned or you can be required to provide new ones.
The easiest way to avoid translation problems is to use a certified Canadian translator. If you still want to use a translator who is not certified, make sure you are completely clear on the requirements.
7. Making sure that you have enough proof that you reside together, and that you have done so for at least one year if you are common-law partners.
It’s extremely common for applicants and sponsors to live together with other family members such as parents or siblings, or even other roommates, in order to save money on rent. This is not a problem for your sponsorship application.
However, you do need to show that you currently live together and confirm how long this has been the case.
If you do not have a formal lease, your landlord can write a letter confirming when you moved in together even if they are your family member.
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If you decide to have one of our consultants review your In-Canada sponsorship application, they will go over all documents, forms, and relationship evidence in detail and provide you with written notes for changes and improvements which can make your application stronger and keep it from being returned.
The cost for sponsorship application review is $595 + HST.
416-827-8778 
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