Parents Sponsorship 2020
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Cirus is a permanent resident of Canada. He landed in Canada three years ago. Cirus is single. He just recently finished his college diploma in Canada. Cirus feels very lonely. He wants to sponsor his mother to Canada so she can stay with him. Cirus’s father passed away two years ago, and his mother has no close relatives in their home country. Cirus doesn’t know if he qualifies to initiate the sponsorship process under the “parents sponsorship” program in 2020.
The majority of people who immigrate to Canada are economic immigrants (e.g. under the Express Entry program). About 25% of the immigrants are, however, sponsored to Canada by their family members. The sponsorship programs targetted about 84000 immigrants to Canada in 2019 (see the Minister’s report to the Parliament). About 20% of the sponsored immigrants are parents or grandparents of Canadians or Permanent Residents of Canada. The rest are mostly spouses or common-law partners or other family members. The Government of Canada intends to admit up to 10,000 parents or grandparents to Canada in 2020. These parents and grandparents become Permanent Residents of Canada upon landing in our country, but how this process works.
Who Could be a sponsor for the “parents sponsorship” program?
According to sections 130 to 134 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR), a sponsor in this context refers to a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Citizen of Canada who meets the following requirements:
- Is at least 18 years old
- Lives in Canada not outside Canada
- Accepts to sign an undertaking pledge for 20 years (i.e. in the next 20 years from the day of applicant’s landing the sponsor will be financially responsible for their parents or grandparents and the applicants may not use social assistance to cover their expenses)
- Is not subject to a removal order from Canada (i.e. the government does not intend to deport them from Canada)
- Is not in any reformatory, prison, jail, or penitentiary
- Has not been convicted of an offence of the violent or sexual nature toward people close to the sponsor (Consult with a professional for more details)
- Is not an undischarged bankrupt
- Does not owe money to the Federal Government of Canada (Consult with a professional for more information)
- Has filed their taxes in Canada, and their income on Notice of Assessment in the last three consecutive years is at least 30% above the poverty line based on the number of people they are sponsoring, their household, and their dependents. Click here for more information about the minimum necessary income.
If the sponsor does not meet the financial requirements, they could ask their spouse or common-law partner to be a cosigner of the application. The cosigner’s income may be added to the income of the sponsor. In return, they will be equally responsible for the undertaking. Consult with a professional for more details.
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Who could be an applicant in the “parents sponsorship” program?
For parental sponsorship, an applicant is a person who is a foreign national and is the parent or grandparent of the sponsor. There are no specific age limitations, but the applicant needs to be admissible to Canada. The grounds of inadmissibility as laid out under sections 33 to 43 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) are the following:
- Security (e.g. someone who is a spy against Canada or is a terrorist)
- Human or international rights violations (e.g. someone who kills a group of people because of their gender or religious beliefs)
- Serious criminality (e.g. someone who commits an offence in Canada and is jailed for more than six months)
- Criminality (e.g. someone who commits an indictable offence)
- Organized criminality (e.g. someone who is a member of a criminal gang)
- Health grounds (e.g. someone who has a disease that could put the health or safety of Canadians at risk)
- Financial reasons (e.g. if the applicant intends to file for social assistance upon landing in Canada)
- Misrepresentation (e.g. if the applicant hides a critical document from the officer)
- Other matters (e.g. not appearing for an immigration examination)
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What about the dependent family members in the “parents sponsorship” program?
In this process, one of the parents becomes the principal applicant. Then the other parent is a dependent family member. If your parents have children, they may also be part of the application. However, children must be under 22 years old and not married. Of course, some exceptions apply.
Imagine you have a parent who is married to another person. Then your parent becomes the principal applicant, and the spouse becomes a dependent family member. Read the following article for more information:
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What is the process of the “parents sponsorship” program 2020?
The government will open an online application on October 13, 2020, for the “parents sponsorship” program. This will be a lottery system. Visit the following page for more information:
If you wish to visit or move to Canada, please fill out our free assessment form. We will review it for free, but we will contact you only if we find an opportunity for you. Alternatively, you may book a consultation session. Consultation sessions are not free, but you will receive formal advice from a licenced practitioner.
Al Parsai, MA, DTM, RCIC
Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant
Ashton College Instructor – Immigration Consulting
Author – 88 Tips on Immigration to Canada
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