Sponsoring Your Parents or Grandparents

Potential sponsors who expressed your interest in sponsoring their parents or grandparents to come to Canada in 2020 were invited on July 28, 2025 to submit and application. The window closed on October 9, 2025. From that selection process, 17,860 invitations to submit a full application to sponsor your parents/grandparents were sent out. If you weren’t able to get your online submission of interest to sponsor your parents/grandparents in on time, don’t despair! There will be more rounds, which will likely be announced this year or next year. What to do if you submitted an interest to sponsor in time If you were able to get your submission of interest in before October 9, 2025, you can find out if you were chosen for an invitation to apply (the plan is to choose 10,000 applications out of the 17,860 sent in), by going here. Please remember that IRCC is no longer providing exact details and state that that information will be forthcoming soon. So the steps we previously listed here on our page may be slightly different now. Overall, keep the following in mind:

• IRCC sends invitations to the email address originally provided in the 2020 Interest to Sponsor form.
• Applicants can verify whether they were selected by using their confirmation number on IRCC’s “Find out if you’re invited to apply” page.
• If the confirmation number has been lost, IRCC provides an online request tool to recover invitation status information.
• If the confirmation number appears on the invitation list, the person has been selected to apply and should monitor the email account used in the original 2020 submission, including spam and junk folders.

Step 1 IRCC will have sent their email to the address you gave on your 2020 interest to sponsor form. You have to find your confirmation number. When your submission of interest was confirmed on the online form, a 10-character alphanumeric was shown on the screen. Currently IRCC is not confirming the exact nature of the confirmation number, but it should  generally follow the 10-character alphanumeric mentioned above. If you lost this number or forgot to copy it down, go here to submit an online request about your invitation status. The reply will take about 10 business days.  What to do when you have been invited to apply to sponsor If you have been selected for an invitation to apply, you will receive an email from IRCC at the email address you indicated in your submission of interest online form. Check this email account frequently once you see that your confirmation number has been selected. How to Apply to Sponsor Your Parents or Grandparents First you should not download and fill out form IMM 1344 Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking, until you are certain that you have been invited to apply through the first stage selection process. When you sponsor a family member, you are undertaking to provide for their basic necessities for their lives in Canada. This includes:

• Food
• Clothing
• Utilities (bills for electricity, gas, cable, phone, cellphone, etc.)
• Personal requirements
• Shelter (rent or mortgage payments)
• Fuel (for heating in winter)
• Household supplies

This is to ensure that they do not end up on welfare or some other form of government assistance. The undertaking of support is unconditional. It will remain as an obligation even if you divorce or separate or break off any type of relationship with the family members you are sponsoring, or if they move to another province. You as sponsor will still be responsible for them. To be eligible to sponsor a family member you must:

• Be 18 years or older
• Be a Canadian Citizen, a Permanent Resident, or a Registered Indian
• Be sponsoring a member of the family class
• Live in Canada
• Promise to provide for their requirements by signing an undertaking
• Sign an agreement with the person you are sponsoring that shows you both understand your mutual responsibilities
• Show that you have sufficient income to both provide for your own family as well as sponsor your parents/grandparents. You are allowed to have a co-signer who will assist you to meet your responsibilities as a sponsor.
• Any federal, provincial, or municipal government financial support that a person you sponsor receives will cause you the sponsor to be in default. You will be prohibited from sponsoring until you repay the full value of any social assistance they may have received.
• Your undertaking to sponsor your parents/grandparents will be valid for 20 years (10 years in Quebec).
• You must meet the minimum income requirement to sponsor for each of the 3 preceding tax years from the date of your application.

Meeting the Minimum Income Requirement

• Count yourself
• Count your spouse/partner
• Count your dependent children
• Count any and all persons you are still sponsoring, including your parents and/or grandparents

Add all these people up to get your family size and then consult the following table:  

Size of family unit	Minimum income 2024	Minimum income 2023	Minimum income 2022
2 persons	$47,549	$44,530	$43,082
3 persons	$58,456	$54,743	$52,965
4 persons	$70,972	$66,466	$64,306
5 persons	$80,496	$75,384	$72,935
6 persons	$90,784	$85,020	$82,259
7 persons	$101,075	$94,658	$91,582
For each additional person above 7	$10,291	$9,636	$9,324

  Application Forms These are the forms you must fill out when you apply to sponsor a parent/grandparent:

• Document Checklist – Sponsor form IMM 5771: Use this form to ensure you have all the required documentation and information.

• Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking form IMM 1344: This form must be completed by:
  • The sponsor
  • The co-signer (if applicable)
  • The principal applicant (the person being sponsored)

• Financial Evaluation for Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship form IMM 5768: This form is completed by the sponsor (and co-signer if applicable) to evaluate whether the sponsor is capable of financially supporting the person they will sponsor.
• Schedule A – Background/Declaration IMM 5669: This form must be completed by: It provides information to immigration authorities on all the jobs the person has held since 18 years of age as well as other personal information like their education. Remember to press the “Validate” button to ensure that your form has been filled out accurately.
  • The principal applicant (the person being sponsored)
  • The principal applicant’s wife/spouse
  • The principal applicant’s dependent children aged 18 or older (whether they are accompanying to or not to Canada)

• Statutory Declaration of Common Law Union IMM 5409: This form is to be signed by the sponsor and his or her common-law partner only if the partner is a co-signer of the application.
• Generic Application for Canada IMM 0008: This form has to be completed by the principal applicant and provides basic personal information as well under what type of Immigration stream the principal applicant (the person being sponsored) is applying to come to Canada. Remember to click the “Validate” button when your form is completed so that the barcode page is printed. (If you fill out your form off-line by hand, this will not be the case.) Place the barcode page at the top of your application and supporting documents.
• Additional Dependents/Declaration form IMM 0008DEP: This form should be filled out by the principal applicant for all dependants not listed in form IMM 0008.
• Additional Family Information IMM 5406: This form provides additional details about your marriage and your siblings. It must be completed by:
  • The principal applicant
  • The principal applicant’s spouse or common-law partner
  • The principal applicant’s dependent children aged 18 or older (whether accompanying you to Canada or not)

• Use of a Representative IMM 5476: the principal applicant should use this form if they are:
  • Appointing a representative
  • Are updating contact information for their representative
  • Are cancelling a representative’s appointment

Go here to see if you need to give biometric information (digital fingerprints and eye scans) depending on your country of residence. You can give biometrics at a Visa Application Centre (VAC) nearest you.   Sponsorship Fees Here’s a table of the fees charged for Sponsorship Applications:  

Fees	CAD$
Sponsor parent or grandparent: Sponsorship fee $75, Principal applicant processing fee $475, Right of permanent residence fee $490	$1,260
Sponsor parent of grandparent (without right of permanent residence): Sponsorship fee $75, Principal applicant processing fee $475	$660
Include spouse or partner of parent or grandparent: Sponsorship fee $550, Right of permanent residence fee $490	$1,260
Include spouse or partner of parent or grandparent (without right of permanent residence): Sponsorship fee $550	$660
Include dependent child of parent or grandparent	$180 (per child)
Biometric fees: $85 per person	$85 (per person)
Biometric fees: $170 per family	$170 (per family)

  Go here for more information on paying your fees. You will need:

• A valid email address
• Access to a printer
• A valid Credit Card or Canadian Debit Card

Remember to print 2 copies of your official IRCC receipt with a barcode, after you have paid online. Attach 1 copy of your receipt to your application and keep the other for your personal files.   Submit the Application Mail your applications with all the completed printed forms and supporting documents – use the Document Checklist IMM 5771 – to the following address: CPC-M-PGP PO BOX 8020, STN T CSC Ottawa, ON K1G 3H6   What happens if your application has been refused? To learn about your options if your application is refused, please read this.  

Past Updates about Sponsoring Your Parents or Grandparents to Canada

 

2019: Sponsor Parents / Grandparents 2019

Are you ready to sponsor your parents or grandparents? Last year you had a month to submit an Interest to Sponsor online and then apply if you were selected by IRCC. The process opened up on January 2^nd and closed on February 2^nd, 2018. And not only that, a further round of invitations to apply was sent out in the ensuing summer, on July 31, 2018. So, the IRCC is about to open up the sponsorship for parents/grandparents again in late January 2019. This time, however, it will be on a first-come, first-served basis rather than the random selection process of the past year which drew strong criticism from those who had been waiting years to apply.

Who can sponsor their parents / grandparents?

To sponsor your parents or grandparents, you must meet the following criteria:

• Be a Canadian Citizen, OR
• Be a Permanent Resident of Canada, OR
• Be a Person Registered in Canada under the Canadian Indian Act

As well, you must:

• Support your parents/grandparents financially for a length of period – called the Length of Undertaking – as follows:

Person you are Sponsoring	Length of Undertaking
	All Provinces Other than Quebec	Quebec
Parents or Grandparents	20 years	10 years

Please note the following:

• While the length of undertaking changed on October 24, 2017 because of the change in the maximum age of dependent children, the length of undertaking did not change for sponsorship of parents and grandparents and remains as shown in the table above.
• Your sponsorship commitment does NOT change as a result of:

• Your relationship with the person you are sponsoring changing
• The person you are sponsoring becomes a Canadian citizen
• Your financial situation deteriorates (job loss, investment losses etc.)
• Any request to withdraw sponsorship is received by IRCC after the person(s) being sponsored become permanent residents of Canada.

Interest to Sponsor Form

As of now, the online forms remain closed but will open, as we stated above, sometime in the last days of January 2019. Please make sure you follow us, and we’ll let you know as soon as IRCC opens up the process again.

Selection of Sponsors

• As mentioned above, this will now be a first-come, first-served process unlike in 2018 so it will be vital to get in your Interest to Sponsor form as soon as possible. We will update you on this as soon as the IRCC releases more details.
• Sponsors who have been selected will be emailed by IRCC and will be invited to submit a complete application to sponsor parents/grandparents.

Submitting Complete Application to Sponsor

• You must wait until you receive an Invitation to Apply before filling out your application package which includes:

• A document checklist,
• The forms you will need to fill out, AND
• A guide and instructions

• You will have to provide proof that you meet income requirements. You must submit:

• Your last 3 years income tax information. The easiest way is to sign the consent in question 8 and submit your Social Insurance Number so that IRCC can calculate if you meet the income requirements.
• The requirements are Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) + 30% to account for your parents or grandparents. Here is last year’s table:

Size of Family Unit	Minimum Income 2017	Minimum Income 2016	Minimum Income 2015
2 people	$39,813	$39,371	$38,618
3 people	$48,945	$48,404	$47,476
4 people	$59,426	$58,768	$57,642
5 people	$67,400	$66,654	$65,377
6 people	$76,015	$75,174	$73,733
7 people	$84,631	$83,695	$82,091
For each person over 7	$8,616	$8,522	$8,358

• Any dependent children of your parents or grandparents will have to included in the application.

• You will have to list all your family members. Your sponsored parents or grandparents will also have to submit for each of their family members:

• Medical checks
• Security checks
• Criminality checks

• You must pay your application fees (although your additional Right of Permanent Residence fee can be paid later). Go here to use the Pay Your Fees tool and see what fees you will have to pay depending on who you are sponsoring and how many applicants there are.

• Mail each individual application in its own separate package by mail or courier to the following address:

CPC – PGP PO Box 8020, STN T CSC Ottawa, ON K1G 3H6 Remember that your application will be returned to you if any of the following holds:

• If your application is incomplete
• If your fees are missing
• If you weren’t selected and haven’t received an invitation to apply
• If your application is not received before the deadline

Remember that the IRCC will be announcing the opening and closing dates for submitting Interest to Sponsor and the Complete Application to Sponsor as well. We’ll be keeping you up to date on the news as soon as it becomes available. SOURCES: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1355&top=14 https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/family-sponsorship/sponsor-parents-grandparents/tell-us-you-want-sponsor-parent-grandparent.html https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/family-sponsorship/sponsor-parents-grandparents.html http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/results-by-topic.asp?st=14.1 https://www.cicnews.com/2018/12/canadas-parents-and-grandparents-sponsorship-program-will-reopen-in-late-january-1211694.html https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/family-sponsorship/sponsor-parents-grandparents/apply.html https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/guide-5772-application-sponsor-parents-grandparents.html#income  

2016:

New Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Application

Cap for parents/grandparents: 10,000 as promised

2015: Cap for parents/grandparents 2016: still 5,000, not 10,000