Canada set to welcome record-breaking number with Family Sponsorship

Alisha Khan
[Published 10 Aug, 2022 | 08:10 AM]
About Author - 3 min read
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If the trend from the first five months of this year holds, Canada's family sponsorship programmes are on course to accept their highest-ever number of new permanent residents this year.

According to the most recent figures from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), 41,625 new permanent residents have entered Canada by the end of May thanks to family sponsorship programmes. If this pattern continues throughout the year, 99,900 new permanent residents would be sponsored by family members and come to Canada, breaking the previous record of 91,300 new permanent residents set in 2019.

Under these family sponsorship programmes, Canada accepted 91,300 new permanent residents during the final full year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the outbreak, these well-liked programmes had been attracting continuously rising audiences.

Canada family sponsorship program only grew in popularity the next year after assisting 65,485 foreign nationals in obtaining their permanent residency in the previous year. A total of 78,005 people were granted permanent residency in 2016, an increase of 12,520, or 19.1%, from the previous year.

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The popularity of the programmes increased by 5.7% the next year, reaching 82,465 new permanent residents in 2017. The rate of expansion of family sponsorship programmes slowed in 2018. Through these schemes, Canada welcomed 85,165 new permanent residents by the end of the year, an increase of just 3.3% from the year before. But things started to pick up again in 2019 with an increase of 7.2%, or 6,135 more new permanent residents.

Work permits for sponsored spouses

The Spousal Work Permit Pilot Program permits spouses and common-law partners who enter Canada through sponsorship to work. The program's goal is to enable partners and spouses to continue working while their immigration applications are being processed.

Candidates for the spouse or common-law partner class must be in Canada and in the process of being sponsored for permanent residence. A legitimate temporary status as a visitor, student, or employee is also required of candidates.

In accordance with the sponsorship programmes, sponsors sign an agreement with Canada immigration officials promising to pay back any social assistance benefits provided to the sponsored individual. Even in the event of a change in circumstances, such as a separation, divorce, or change in financial circumstances, Sponsors are still bound by the undertaking agreement for the duration of the contract.

A sponsor must agree to pay back the federal or provincial governments for a period of three years starting on the date the spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner becomes a permanent residence. The obligation begins the day the child becomes a permanent resident of Canada for a period of ten years or until the child reaches the age of twenty-five years, whichever comes first, in the case of a child under the age of nineteen of the sponsor or the spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner.

For dependent children who are older than 19, the obligation lasts for three years and begins on the day they are granted permanent residency. The sponsorship responsibility for parents and grandparents lasts for 20 years starting on the day the family class member becomes a permanent resident. All other family members are subject to a 10-year duty.