Canadian spousal sponsorship is how a Canadian citizen or permanent resident can sponsor their partner to come to Canada and live permanently. In Canada, we know how important it is for families to be together. For this reason, applications for spousal sponsorship are considered a top priority. The common-law / spousal sponsorship Canada immigration program is a part of the Family Class category, through which Canada welcomes a substantial number of new permanent residents annually.

Spousal sponsorship processing times have been a contentious issue for some time, particularly when the Covid-19 pandemic affected IRCC work capacity in 2020. However, in response to this IRCC has increased by 66 per cent the number of staff that will review spousal sponsorship applications in order to reduce wait times and process applications more quickly.

In most cases of spousal sponsorship in Canada, you do not have to meet a minimum level of income in order to sponsor your spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner. You do, however, have to sign an undertaking agreeing to provide for the basic financial needs of the person you sponsor, usually for a period of three years.