Family
Sponsorship

There are 3 main programs for spousal sponsorship: Spousal sponsorship, common-law partner sponsorship, and conjugal partner sponsorship.

Spouses are legally married partners in Canada or foreign countries and can be same-sex partners as well. Common-law partners are informal marriages where the couple lives together but does not legally register their partnership with the authorized legal office. Conjugal partnerships are informal marriages where the couple has not lived together for at least one year due to circumstances beyond their control.

The sponsor must be Canadian citizen or permanent resident over 18 years old. He/she must agree to sign a sponsorship agreement, committing to the government to provide financial support for the applicant for 3 years after the spouse become a PR and up to 10 years for dependents. Moreover, the sponsor has to show proofs of legal marriage in the spousal sponsorship or proofs of mutually interdependent relationship in case of common-law or conjugal partner sponsorship.