How to Sponsor Your Spouse to Come to Canada

The short answer

Spousal sponsorship is a two-part application: IRCC first assesses you as a sponsor, then assesses your spouse or partner for permanent residence. You submit one package, but those are two separate decisions, and the sponsor must stay eligible from the day IRCC receives the application until the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident. The process is the same across Canada, with one extra Quebec step if you plan to live there.

This guide describes the process only. For advice about your own case, talk to a licensed immigration consultant (RCIC) or an immigration lawyer.

Inland or outland: pick first

Everything else follows from where the sponsored person lives.

Inland means your spouse or partner is living with you in Canada, and you apply through the in-Canada stream. Outland means your spouse or partner is living outside Canada, and you apply through the abroad stream. Pick based on where they actually live, not which sounds faster, because each stream has its own checklist. IRCC also publishes a separate open work permit route for some inland applicants — check its eligibility pages before counting on it, as it is not part of the sponsorship approval itself.

If your spouse or partner is a conjugal partner, the route is different again: a conjugal partner must live outside Canada, so that category only fits an outland situation.## Who can sponsor, and who can be sponsored

The sponsor must be at least 18, live in Canada, and be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, or a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act, and able to provide for the basic needs of the people you sponsor. The exception is a Canadian citizen living abroad: you can sponsor from abroad if you intend to return to live in Canada once that person becomes a permanent resident. A permanent resident sponsor does not get that exception.

The sponsored spouse must be legally married to you, at least 18, in a genuine relationship with you, and not inadmissible to Canada. Gender does not matter. A marriage that exists only to obtain permanent resident status does not qualify, and IRCC tests genuineness on the evidence, not the ceremony alone.

A common-law partner is not legally married to you, is at least 18, is in a genuine relationship with you, and has lived with you for at least 12 consecutive months in a conjugal relationship, without any long periods apart. Time apart during those 12 months should have been short and temporary, for reasons such as family obligations or business travel.

A conjugal partner is not legally married to you and is not in a common-law relationship with you, is at least 18, lives outside Canada, and has been in an exclusive, mutually interdependent relationship with you for at least 1 year — sharing your lives physically, emotionally, financially, and socially. It is for couples who cannot marry or live together for reasons beyond their control, not a shortcut around the other definitions.

Document checklist: what IRCC actually asks for

Use the IRCC checklist for your exact situation and treat it as the application. The spouse, common-law, conjugal, and dependent-child checklists list different documents, and a document that satisfies one category may not satisfy another.

Across all categories, expect to assemble:

• Identity documents for the sponsor and the sponsored person, and proof of the sponsor's status in Canada.
• Proof of the relationship: for a spouse, the marriage certificate; for a common-law partner, documents proving 12 months of living together; for a conjugal partner, documents proving a year of interdependent life.
• Evidence the relationship is genuine and ongoing — shared finances, shared living arrangements, communication, travel together, and support from family and friends, as the checklist for your category specifies.
• Documents for every dependent child included, even one not coming to Canada. Family members must be listed and complete medical exams and background checks even if they are not travelling, and leaving someone off can create problems later.

The steps, in order

1. Confirm the route. Inland or outland, and spouse, common-law, or conjugal — then download that stream's guide and checklist from IRCC.
2. Complete every form. Both the sponsor's and the sponsored person's forms go in the same package. Answer every question, even if the answer is "not applicable," and sign where required.
3. Pay the fees. Use the totals in the fee table below, and confirm them in IRCC's fee tool on the day you pay. Keep the receipt with the application.
4. Submit a complete package. IRCC returns an incomplete application without processing it, and missing fees have the same result. A returned application is not a refusal, but it costs you the waiting time.
5. Link the application online. Once IRCC sends an acknowledgement of receipt with an application number, link it to an online account so requests for more information reach you quickly.
6. Respond to every request on time. Biometrics, medical exams, police certificates, and extra relationship evidence each arrive with their own instructions and deadline. Answer through the channel IRCC specifies, and keep copies of everything you send.

Fees

The IRCC total for sponsoring a spouse or partner is $1,260, including the right of permanent residence fee, or $660 without that fee. Each dependent child included adds $180. Biometrics, if required, cost $85 per person, up to $170 for a family of two or more applying at the same time. You can pay the right of permanent residence fee later, but you must pay it before permanent residence is granted, and paying up front avoids one more delay near the end. Confirm every figure in IRCC's fee tool before you pay — fees change, and an underpayment can hold up the file.

After you apply: biometrics, medical, and the decision

After the acknowledgement of receipt, IRCC assesses your eligibility as a sponsor, then whether the sponsored person — and any dependants — is eligible for permanent residence and not inadmissible to Canada. In parallel, IRCC asks sponsored family members to complete medical exams and, where required, to give biometrics. Once you pay the biometrics fee, IRCC sends a letter: the sponsored person has 30 days from its date to attend a collection site with the letter and a passport. Medical exams also carry a 30-day window once IRCC sends the instructions.

IRCC says new applications are expected to take 12 months until a decision is made, including a 2- to 3-month wait while IRCC checks the application is complete. That is an expectation, not a promise for any file. Check IRCC's processing-times tool for the current figure, and do not book non-refundable travel around an expected date.

If IRCC approves, it sends instructions for the final steps to become a permanent resident. If it refuses, the letter explains why.

Quebec: one extra step

If you plan to live in Quebec, sponsorship has an extra provincial layer. After the federal sponsorship assessment, you must also obtain an undertaking from Quebec's immigration ministry (MIFI) before the federal application can be approved, and Quebec's own spaces and processing affect the timeline. Start the Quebec step as soon as IRCC directs you to it — discovering it at the end is an avoidable delay.

Mistakes that delay or return an application

• Filing the wrong checklist. An inland package built from outland instructions, or a spouse checklist used for a common-law partner, comes back or stalls.
• Thin relationship evidence. A marriage certificate alone does not prove a genuine, ongoing relationship. Build the evidence section as the checklist asks, across the whole period of the relationship.
• Missing family members. Every dependent child belongs on the application, even one staying behind. An omission found later is far harder to fix than a complete filing.
• Ignoring a request deadline. Biometrics and medical exams each carry a 30-day window. A missed deadline does not automatically end the case, but it pauses progress.
• Assuming approval. Nothing here promises an outcome. Admissibility, genuineness, and completeness are all decided on your file, and a case with any complication is exactly when a licensed immigration consultant (RCIC) or an immigration lawyer earns their fee.

Related guides: how to apply for Express Entry from outside Canada, how to get a family doctor in Ontario, how to open a Canadian business bank account as a non-resident.

Sources

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Sponsor your spouse, partner or child — sponsor and sponsored-person eligibility (18 or older, Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person registered under the Canadian Indian Act; sponsor lives in Canada, with the citizen-abroad exception), the inland and outland streams, spouse, common-law partner (12 consecutive months living together) and conjugal partner (outside Canada, one year of interdependent life) definitions, the undertaking, and the per-category document checklists.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Citizenship and immigration application fees: Fee changes — the April 30, 2026 fee increase behind the guide's fee table: sponsorship fee $85 to $90, sponsored principal applicant $545 to $570, right of permanent residence fee $575 to $600, accompanying dependent child $175 to $180 — the components of the $1,260 total ($90 + $570 + $600) and the $660 figure without the right of permanent residence fee.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Check current IRCC processing times — the official tool the guide tells readers to check before planning around a date; the times shown are estimates, not a maximum or a guarantee.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, How are processing times calculated? — backward-looking times (how long it took to process 80% of complete applications) versus forward-looking estimates (inventory, monthly throughput, annual levels plan); a processing clock starts only on a complete application, including all fees.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Biometrics: How to give your fingerprints and photo — biometrics fee $85 per person and $170 family maximum, the biometric instruction letter, bringing the letter and a valid passport to the appointment, and appointments required at Service Canada offices and visa application centres.
• Gouvernement du Québec, Verifying your eligibility to sponsor your spouse or conjugal partner — the Quebec undertaking step: an IRCC eligibility letter first, then the undertaking with the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration; sponsor must live in Quebec and be at least 18; new intake rules apply (page last updated November 3, 2026).