Canada recognizes the importance of family reunification. The Canadian Family Class Sponsorship program gives permanent residents and citizens the opportunity to sponsor their close family members and relatives.

As a sponsor, you must meet certain criteria that will allow you to go forward with your application to sponsor someone. These are:

• being a Canadian citizen or a Permanent resident of Canada.
• intending on residing in Canada if you live outside of the country, once the family member you are sponsoring becomes a permanent resident.
• must be living in Canada at the time of sponsorship if you are a permanent resident.
• must be able to financially support sponsored family members or relatives.
• must not be in jail, prison, reformatory, or a penitentiary.
• must not be in default of child support payments.
• must not have recently filed for bankruptcy.
• must not be in receipt of social assistance (unless it is for disability).

Who can be sponsored?

• Sponsor's spouse/common-law partner or conjugal partner (16 years of age or older and can include same sex relationships).
• Dependent child of the sponsor is defined as someone who is:
  1. below the age of 22 and doesn't have a spouse or common-law partner;
  2. is a full-time student and is substantially dependent on a parent for financial support since before the age of 22, or since becoming a spouse or common-law partner (if this happened before age 22); or
  3. is financially dependent on a parent since before the age of 22 because of a disability.
• Sponsor's mother or father
• Grandparents of the sponsor
• Orphaned sibling/niece/nephew/grandchild of the sponsor
• One other relative only if the sponsor is entirely alone in Canada with no other sponsor-able relatives mentioned above
• Legally adopted child (both under and above 18 years of age) with a well established parent/child relationship

In addition to all this, the sponsor must also sign a promise with the government that he/she will "undertake" the sponsored and his/her dependent family members for a set period of time. Essentially, this means that the sponsor is financially responsible for the individuals he/she has sponsored. The set period of time can range from a minimum of 1 to 10 years depending on who they are and what their age is.