Sponsoring Your Spouse or Partner to Canada: How Spousal Sponsorship Works

If you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and your spouse or partner lives in another country — or is here with you on a temporary visa — you may be able to sponsor them for permanent residence. Spousal sponsorship is one of the most common ways families are reunited in Canada, but the process has strict rules, and misunderstanding them can lead to long delays or a refusal. Here is a plain-language overview of how it works, based on the current rules from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Who can be a sponsor?

To sponsor a spouse or partner, you must be at least 18 years old, be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, or a person registered under the Indian Act, and live in Canada. A Canadian citizen living abroad can still sponsor, but must show they plan to live in Canada once their spouse or partner becomes a permanent resident. A permanent resident living outside Canada cannot sponsor at all.

One piece of good news that surprises many people: in most cases there is no minimum income requirement to sponsor a spouse or partner. You do not need to earn a particular salary. An income test only applies in limited situations — for example, if the spouse you are sponsoring has a dependent child who has a child of their own. You must, however, not be receiving social assistance (other than for a disability), and you cannot be an undischarged bankrupt.

Who counts as a spouse or partner?

There are three categories. A spouse is someone you are legally married to. A common-law partner is someone you are not married to but have lived with continuously for at least 12 months in a conjugal relationship — short, temporary absences are fine, but long periods apart can break the continuity. A conjugal partner is a narrower category for someone living outside Canada with whom you have been in an exclusive, interdependent relationship for at least a year, but whom you cannot marry or live with because of legal, immigration, cultural, or religious barriers.

In every category, the person must be at least 18 and the relationship must be genuine — not entered into primarily to get immigration status. IRCC scrutinizes this closely. Evidence of a shared life matters: photos over time, joint finances or leases, travel records, messages, and knowledge of each other's lives.

The undertaking: a serious three-year commitment

Every sponsor signs an undertaking — a binding promise to financially support the sponsored spouse or partner for three years from the day they become a permanent resident. If they receive social assistance during that period, you must repay it, and you cannot sponsor anyone else until you do. The undertaking cannot be cancelled or shortened once permanent residence is granted — even if the relationship breaks down, even if you divorce, and even if your financial situation changes.

Applying from inside or outside Canada

There are two routes. An application under the family class (often called an "outland" application) is available whether your spouse lives abroad or in Canada, and it generally preserves a right of appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division if the application is refused. An application under the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class (an "inland" application) is for couples living together in Canada. Its big advantage: once IRCC confirms the application is complete and issues an acknowledgement of receipt, the sponsored spouse or partner living in Canada can apply for an open work permit and work for any employer while the application is processed. The trade-off is that a refusal of an inland application generally does not carry the same appeal right; the usual recourse is to ask the Federal Court for judicial review.

Common reasons people cannot sponsor

Some bars catch people by surprise. If you were yourself sponsored to Canada as a spouse or partner, you cannot sponsor a new spouse or partner until five years after you became a permanent resident. If you sponsored a previous spouse or partner, you cannot sponsor a new one until three years after the previous one became a permanent resident — the undertaking must have run its course. Other bars include being in default of court-ordered support payments or an immigration loan, certain criminal convictions (particularly violent or sexual offences, or offences against a relative), being in jail, and being subject to a removal order.

A note for Quebec residents

Sponsors living in Quebec must also meet Quebec's own requirements and sign a separate undertaking with the Quebec government, and Quebec has recently limited the number of undertaking applications it accepts in some categories. If you live in Quebec, check the current provincial rules before applying.

The takeaway

Spousal sponsorship is designed to keep families together, and most genuine couples who prepare a complete, well-documented application succeed. But the stakes are high: a weak application can mean a refusal, months or years of separation, and a harder road the second time around. Understanding who can sponsor, which route fits your situation, and what the three-year undertaking really means is the right place to start.

This article is general information about Canadian immigration law, not legal advice. Requirements and processing rules change, and every family's situation is different. Before applying — or after a refusal — speak with a qualified lawyer or a licensed immigration consultant about your specific circumstances. Ken Wise & Associates practises in this area.