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Pathway

Canada Permanent Residence for Partners

Canada Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

Canada's spouse or partner sponsorship route lets an eligible Canadian citizen or permanent resident sponsor a spouse, common-law partner, or qualifying conjugal partner for permanent residence. The relationship must be genuine, and both people must provide the required identity, family, financial, and background records.

Type
Family residence
Sponsor
People joining a qualifying family member in Canada
Core requirements
Relationship records and the sponsor's status
What to know
The sponsor's status and documents matter a lot
Duration
Permanent residence from approval.
Renewal / path
Can support Canadian citizenship after physical-presence rules are met.

Summary

Spouse and partner sponsorship allows an eligible Canadian citizen, permanent resident or person registered under the Indian Act to sponsor a spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner for permanent residence. The couple must fit one of Canada's relationship definitions, the relationship must be genuine, and both the sponsor and applicant must qualify.

Most spouse and partner sponsorships do not have a minimum-income threshold. The sponsor does, however, sign a binding undertaking to provide basic support for three years after the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident outside Quebec; Quebec uses its own undertaking process and rules.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

The sponsor normally must:

A permanent resident living outside Canada cannot sponsor from abroad. Common bars include receiving social assistance for a reason other than disability, an undischarged bankruptcy, default on certain support or immigration debts, incarceration, a removal order, and specified violent, sexual or family offenses. A person who became a permanent resident after being sponsored as a spouse or partner generally cannot sponsor a new spouse or partner until five years have passed. A sponsor remains unable to sponsor another spouse or partner during the three-year undertaking for a previously sponsored partner.

There is normally no income test. The federal exception is when the sponsored spouse or partner has a dependent child who has a dependent child of their own. Quebec applies its own financial rules where relevant.

The sponsored relationship must be one of these:

The applicant must be admissible and must declare their spouse or partner and all children as required, including non-accompanying family members. IRCC may require medical exams, police certificates and background checks.

What This Route Allows

If approved, the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident. Eligible dependent children can be included and assessed as family members.

A spouse or partner living in Canada with the sponsor may be eligible for an optional open work permit after IRCC accepts the permanent-residence application as complete and issues the required acknowledgment of receipt. Current rules also address maintained status and restoration, and a limited near-expiry exception. The work permit is a separate application and is not automatic.

The sponsor's three-year undertaking continues even if the relationship ends, either person moves, the sponsor has financial problems, or the sponsored person becomes a citizen. The sponsored person's permanent residence is not conditional on remaining in the relationship, although fraud or misrepresentation can still have immigration consequences.

What This Route Is Not

Marriage to or partnership with a Canadian does not create citizenship, permanent residence, visitor status or work authorization automatically. The applicant must complete the sponsorship and permanent-residence process and maintain any required temporary status separately.

This is not a route for a relationship entered into mainly to obtain status. At the same time, IRCC does not require one particular type of wedding, bank account or photo collection. Evidence should truthfully show how the couple shares their life, communicates, visits or cohabits, handles responsibilities and is known to family or community, as applicable to their circumstances.

An “in Canada” application is not automatically better than Family Class. Location, cohabitation, status, travel needs, conjugal-partner rules and available review rights can affect the correct class.

Next Steps

  1. Confirm sponsor eligibility, including the five-year previously-sponsored-person bar and any active three-year undertaking, support default, bankruptcy, offense or removal issue.
  2. Confirm the correct relationship category and application class. Use the current IRCC checklist for the applicant's country and circumstances.
  3. Gather civil-status and identity records and a clear, proportionate relationship evidence package. For common-law cases, prove at least 12 continuous months of cohabitation; for conjugal cases, document the serious barrier to marriage or cohabitation.
  4. Declare all required family members, whether accompanying or not. Failure to declare or have a family member examined can create serious future sponsorship problems.
  5. Submit the sponsorship and permanent-residence applications through the current IRCC process and pay the current fees. Keep copies and report family, address or status changes.
  6. If the sponsor lives in Quebec, wait for the IRCC document Quebec requires, then follow Quebec's undertaking intake schedule. From July 2, 2026 to June 30, 2028, spouse and partner undertakings are subject to a cap and a schedule based on the date of IRCC's eligibility letter or qualifying in-Canada acknowledgment of receipt; check the current Quebec page before mailing.
  7. If the sponsored person lives in Canada with the sponsor, check the separate open-work-permit requirements after receiving the appropriate acknowledgment of receipt and maintain or restore temporary status as required.
  8. Respond promptly to document, medical, police, biometrics or interview requests. Do not rely on a quoted processing time as a guaranteed decision date.
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