Canadian citizens or Permanent Residents who are at least 18 years old can sponsor their parents and grandparents to immigrate to Canada. To do so, you will need to meet minimum income requirements, based upon the “Low Income Cut Off” figures researched by Statistics Canada.

You will need to prove your relationship with your parents. This would normally be done with your birth certificate; however, in the event that this is not available, or if they do not establish your relationship, you may need to produce other evidence of your relationship, or in some cases, even DNA evidence.

When sponsoring your parents or grandparents to immigrate, you must undertake to support them for basic life necessities, for at least 10 years after immigrating to Canada. In the event they do seek government assistance for these, you would be required to repay this to the government.

If your parents or grandparents are already in Canada, you may under certain circumstances be able to sponsor them from within Canada. Or, if they are applying to immigrate to Canada through a visa office in their home country, they may also be able to come to Canada as visitors while their case is pending.

When you sponsor your parents, they may in turn sponsor their children (who may be your siblings), provided that the children meet the definition of “dependent children”. These are children who are under age 22 at the time of application, and financially supported by your parents. If they are 22 or over, they may still be considered dependents if your parents are financially supporting them, and they are either full time students, or have some physical or mental disability. They can be natural or adopted.

All relatives must pass medical and criminal background checks. If there are any issues about these, they can sometimes be overcome on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

The information on CanadaVisaLaw.com’s Web Site has been prepared so you may learn more about the services we offer. These materials do not constitute legal advice, and are not intended to provide specific advice about your particular situation. Because the law constantly changes and is subject to varying interpretations, we urge you to contact us regarding any specific problem you may have, and we advise you not to take, or refrain from taking, any action based upon materials in this Web Site without consulting legal counsel.