As a sponsor you may be expected to meet some income requirements. In addition if you have previously agreed to sponsor a relative seeking permanent residence in Canada for a period of time who later received social assistance, you may not be permitted to sponsor relatives in the future.

Applying for a Canadian working visa of this class requires that applications must be submitted before the relative being sponsored can immigrate to Canada.

In all provinces except Quebec the procedure entails the sponsor signing an undertaking with the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. Both the sponsor and the sponsored relative will also be required to sign a sponsorship agreement.

In Quebec this agreement will be signed with the province rather than the Minister. It also requires an extra level of assessment to decide whether or not residents are eligible to sponsor a relative.

A sponsorship agreement outlines the obligations of both the sponsor and the relative who is migrating to Canada.

The former must agree to support the latter for the agreed period of time, thus ensuring that they do not need to receive social assistance.

The person being sponsored must undertake to make certain that they become self supporting, except in cases where the relative is elderly.

As a Canadian citizen or Permanent resident, you can sponsor under the following criteria-