On July 18, 2025, the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration (MIFI) has reached the maximum number of undertaking applications it can receive, from June 26, 2024 to June 25, 2026 inclusive, for sponsoring a parent (father, mother), a grandparent or another family member (2,600 applications).
The MIFI is not receiving new applications for these family members until June 25, 2026.
July 16, 2025 – Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will accept up to 10,000 sponsorship applications under the 2025 Parents and Grandparents Program.
Starting on July 28, 2025, and over the course of approximately two weeks, IRCC will send invitations to apply to interested potential sponsors. Invitations will be sent to randomly selected applicants from the existing 2020 interest-to-sponsor pool, as done in previous years.
This article will help you navigate through the main requirements to sponsor your parents and grandparents to become permanent residents of Canada. This includes your obligations as a sponsor, your income requirements, and other the eligibility requirements.
Eligibility to Sponsor
You can become a sponsor if you:
- are 18 years of age or older,
- are a Canadian citizen, Registered Indian or permanent resident,
- live in Canada,
- sign an undertaking promising to provide for the basic requirements of the person being sponsored,
- sign an agreement with the person you are sponsoring that confirms that each of you understands your mutual obligations and responsibilities, and
- prove that you have sufficient income to provide the basic requirements for your family members in Canada as well as the persons included in your sponsorship undertaking. You may also have a co-signer (spouse or common-law partner).
You cannot become a sponsor if you:
- are in receipt of social assistance for a reason other than disability,
- are in default of an undertaking, an immigration loan, a performance bond, or family support payments,
- are an undischarged bankrupt,
- were convicted of an offence of a sexual nature, a violent criminal offence, an offence against a relative that results in bodily harm or an attempt or threat to commit any such offences—depending on circumstances such as the nature of the offence, how long ago it occurred and whether a pardon was issued
- are under a removal order, or
- are detained in a penitentiary, jail, reformatory or prison.
If you live in Quebec, you must satisfy the requirements of both governments. The requirements of Quebec are similar to those of the federal government.
Obligations as a Sponsor
When you sponsor persons who are members of the family class, you must sign an undertaking with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) or with the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI) if you live in Quebec.
The undertaking is a promise to provide financial support and basic requirements for the family members you are sponsoring. Basic requirements are:
- food, clothing, utilities, personal requirements, shelter, fuel, household supplies, and
- healthcare not provided by public health, such as eye and dental care.
The undertaking ensures that these persons and their family members do not have to apply for social assistance. The length of undertaking depends on their age and their relationship with the sponsor.
Your obligations as a sponsor begin as soon as the person(s) you are sponsoring arrive in Canada. Your spouse or common-law partner may help you meet the income requirement by co-signing the sponsorship application.
The undertaking is an unconditional promise of support. For example, the granting of Canadian citizenship, divorce, separation or relationship breakdown or moving to another province does not cancel the undertaking. The undertaking also remains in effect even if your financial situation deteriorates.
The length of the undertaking for residents of provinces and territories outside Quebec is:
- 20 years for your parents and grandparents.
The length of the undertaking for residents of Quebec is:
- 10 years for your parents and grandparents.
Who Can You Sponsor?
- Your parents (related by blood or adoption) and their dependents.
- Your grandparents (related by blood or adoption) and their dependents.
For example, an application can include:
- your mother and father
- your mother and her spouse (your stepmother/stepfather)
- your father and his spouse (your stepmother/stepfather)
- your mother and their dependent child
- your grandmother and grandfather
- Etc.
In case of divorced parents, an application cannot include both divorced parents. Each parent must be sponsored on a separate application.
If you want to sponsor both your grandparents and parents, each couple must be sponsored on a separate application.
Dependent children must be under 22 years old and don’t have a spouse or common-law partner. Children 22 years old or older qualify as dependants if they:
- have depended on their parents for financial support since before the age of 22, and
- are unable to financially support themselves because of a mental or physical condition.
Income Requirements
For the parents and grandparents sponsorship category, there is an income requirement based upon the number of people in your family. You must include:
- Yourself and your family members, even if they do not live with you,
- The person you are sponsoring and his/her family members who will be living with you,
- Anyone you have sponsored in the past and their family members,
- Anyone you have co-signed a sponsorship financial obligation in the past and is still in effect, and
- Any person that you are sponsoring who has sponsored or has co-signed a sponsorship financial obligation for in the past and is still in effect.
For each of the three consecutive taxation years preceding the date on which the application is submitted, the sponsor (and a co-signer, if applicable) must meet the minimum required income. For example, if you are applying in 2025, you must provide proof of income from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for the taxation years of 2024, 2023, and 2022.
| Family Size | Required Income - 2024 | Required Income - 2023 | Required Income - 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | $47,549 | $44,530 | $43,082 |
| 3 | $58,456 | $54,743 | $52,965 |
| 4 | $70,972 | $66,466 | $64,306 |
| 5 | $80,496 | $75,384 | $72,935 |
| 6 | $90,784 | $85,020 | $82,259 |
| 7 | $101,075 | $94,658 | $91,582 |
| For each additional person | $10,291 | $9,636 | $9,324 |
For Quebec residents, the required amounts are different. Please refer to the Quebec-specific income requirements section below.
Quebec income requirements
If you live in Quebec, the Quebec ministry in charge of immigration will assess your income based on their own minimum income requirements, which differ from the tables above. For example, for Quebec residents, there is no special distinction in required income for parents and grandparents.
However, the same exceptions to minimum income requirements apply for Quebec residents (for spouse, partner, children, …)
The amounts below are in effect from January 1 to December 31, 2026.
Basic income required of the sponsor to meet his or her own family unit’s basic needs (Income A):
- For 1 member: $29,642
- For 2 member: $40,015
- For 3 members: $49,401
- For 4 members: $56,819
- For 5 members: $63,237
- For each additional member: $6,418
Additional income required of the sponsor to meet the needs of the sponsored persons (Income B):
- For 0 sponsored person aged 18 or older AND:
- For 1 sponsored person under 18: $10,261
- For 2 sponsored persons under 18: $16,262
- For each additional sponsored person under 18: $5,422
- For 1 sponsored person aged 18 or older AND:
- For 0 sponsored person under 18: $21,682
- For 1 sponsored person under 18: $29,131
- For 2 sponsored persons under 18: $32,895
- For each additional sponsored person under 18: $3,760
- For 2 sponsored persons aged 18 or older AND:
- For 0 sponsored person under 18: $31,796
- For 1 sponsored person under 18: $35,617
- For 2 sponsored persons under 18: $38,450
- For each additional sponsored person under 18: $2,823
- For each additional sponsored person aged 18 or older: $10,107
The demonstration of your financial capacity must be based on:
- Income from Canadian sources for the income required to support your family (Income A);
- Canadian-source income or assets held in Canada for the amount required to meet the basic needs of the sponsored persons (Income B).
You must have had income during the 12 months (1 year) prior to your application and demonstrate that you will continue to have this income for the duration of your undertaking.
Application Process
You first need to express your interest in applying by submitting an online interest to sponsor form.
To fill in the form, you will only need your name, date and place of birth, address, the number of family members in your family unit, the number of persons you are sponsoring (including their dependents), the names and dates of birth of the sponsored parents and/or grandparents. You will also need a digital or electronic copy of your identity document (one PDF, JPG, PNG, TIFF, WORD, or WORDX file, max 2.5Mb), and the ID number.
For the year 2020, the interest to sponsor form was available from October 13, 2020 at noon EDT until November 3, 2020 at noon EST. the interest to sponsor form has not been re-opened since then.
Since 2020, potential sponsors are randomly invited from the pool of potential sponsors who submitted an interest to sponsor form in 2020.
If you’re invited to apply, there are 2 applications:
- You must apply to become a sponsor.
- Your parents or grandparents must apply for permanent residence.
You have to submit both the sponsorship and the permanent residence applications together online at the same time.
If you have not been invited, your parents and grandparents can be eligible to a Super Visa, which could let them stay in Canada for 5 years at a time and even apply for 2-year extensions to their stay while still in Canada.
If you live in Quebec, you must:
- First submit your federal sponsorship application to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
- If you meet the federal requirements to apply for sponsorship, IRCC will send you an email or letter with instructions to download Quebec’s sponsorship kit.
- Ask the person you are sponsoring to complete certain procedures, namely, applying for a “Certificat de Selection du Québec” (CSQ) and permanent residence.
Medical Exam & Biometrics Requirements
The sponsored person and their dependents will need to pass a Medical Exam with an Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) approved doctor. Find out more in our medical exams article.
It may be required to provide biometrics (fingerprints scanning and photograph). You can find more information on Biometrics in this page.
Application Fees
Parents or grandparents: $1,205
- $85 Sponsorship fee,
- $545 Processing fee, and
- $575 Right of Permanent Residence fee.
Spouse of your parent or grandparent: $1,210
- $635 Processing fee, and
- $575 Right of Permanent Residence fee.
Dependent child of your parent or grandparent: $175
Processing Times
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) does not have a target service standard of processing for Parents and Grandparents sponsorship applications.
You can check the current average processing times for a Parents and Grandparents sponsorship application here. You need to select “Sponsor a family member”, then “Parents and grandparents”.
