IRCC Deputy Minister Transition Binder 2026 - Family Reunification

Context

The Family Class allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor certain relatives to immigrate to Canada as permanent residents. This immigration class delivers the family reunification component under subsection 12(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), “to see that families are reunited in Canada,” along with other programs and components of the immigration system.

Background

• Family reunification is one of three pillars of permanent immigration to Canada (alongside economic immigration and refugee protection). The Family Class contributes to meeting the IRPA objective “to see that families are reunited in Canada.” Family Class criteria are centered on the genuineness of a relationship between an applicant and a sponsor (Canadian or permanent resident relative).
• Relatives who may be sponsored include:
  • Spouses, common-law partners, and conjugal partners;
  • Parents and grandparents;
  • Dependent children: defined largely as under age 22 (or 22 or older if not financially self-supporting due to a physical or mental condition); biological or adopted, including intercountry adoptions;
  • Other relatives in special circumstances including certain orphaned relatives under 18 and last remaining relative.
• A sponsor must be at least 18 years old as well as a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or Status Indian residing in Canada (with certain exceptions^{Table Footnote 1}). A sponsor must sign an undertaking to support their sponsored relative for a defined period of time—between three years (spouses and partners) and 20 years (parents and grandparents), repaying any provincial social assistance given to the sponsored person during that period.
• Foreign nationals can apply from overseas (i.e., the Family Class) or from within Canada (i.e., the Spouse or Common-Law partner in Canada Class).
• Under the Canada–Québec Accord, Quebec provides advice on the number of immigrants it wishes to receive. Canada establishes the total number of immigrants for the country as a whole while taking Quebec’s advice into consideration. Since Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) receives more Family Class applications than Quebec has set for admissions, wait times for Quebec-bound Family Class applicants are longer than those destined for the rest of Canada.
• Parents and grandparents may also be eligible to apply for a Super Visa, including those who are unable to access the Family Class. The Super Visa is a special multiple entry temporary resident visa valid for up to 10 years that allows stays in Canada up to five years per entry. Additional requirements apply, such as a medical exam, proof of health insurance, and a declaration of support from the host including proof of sufficient income to support family members during their stay in Canada.

Impacts

• The Family Class complements other immigration streams. For example, family sponsorship can help attract highly skilled economic immigrants who may want to later sponsor their family members, such as a spouse or parent.
• Family Class applicants provide emotional and social support and enrich the social and cultural fabric of communities across the country.
  • Spouses and partners are not specifically selected for their skills, although data demonstrate that they contribute to Canada’s economy, often in sectors where labour market shortages exist (sales and services occupations, trade, transport and equipment operators and related occupations). Their incidence of employment is similar to the overall average for the Canadian population, with slightly lower annual earnings.
  • Parents and grandparents (given the average age at admission) are not expected to contribute significantly to the labour market. However, they contribute as economic enablers, for example, through the provision of childcare, which allows sponsors to work or upgrade their skills.

Current Program

• In 2025, Canada welcomed approximately 96,100 permanent residents under family class sponsorship. The Immigration Levels Plan for 2026–2028 allocates approximately 22% of overall permanent resident admissions in 2026 to the Family Class.
• Application intake for spouses and children in the Family Class is uncapped given the objective of supporting family reunification. However, since the number of levels space allocated to the category has not kept pace with the demand from Canadian citizens and permanent residents, the wait times for the program are growing and have reached approximately 3 years for the Spouse or Common-Law partner in Canada Class.

Spouses and Partners (and their dependent children)

• Service standard of 12 months for overseas spouses, partners and children (80% of the time).
• No service standard for in-Canada spouses and partners.
• Since 2019, spouses/partners in Canada who have submitted an application as a sponsored spouse/partner and are experiencing abuse on the part of their sponsor may apply for a temporary resident permit and/or an expedited humanitarian and compassionate permanent resident application.

Parents and Grandparents

• No processing service standard.
• Annual intake limits (“caps”) since 2014 to help manage demand, inventory levels and processing times.
• Since demand significantly exceeds the number of spaces available in the Immigration Levels Plan, the Department conducts an intake process to select and invite sponsors to apply. Intake of applications is a two-stage process established through Ministerial Instructions:
• Interested sponsors submit an Interest to Sponsor form; and
• The Department randomly selects and invites a limited number of interested sponsors to submit applications. This approach helps to ensure the process is fair and transparent, and that all interested sponsors have an equal opportunity to be invited to apply.

Recent Developments

Levels Plan

• While admission targets for family class permanent residency categories will decrease in the coming years, clients can continue to leverage alternative, temporary immigration programs to reunite with family in Canada, including the ability to visit family on a temporary resident visa as well as the Super Visa for parents and grandparents.

Spouses and Partners

• The Department has implemented several measures to improve the processing efficiency of spousal sponsorship applications (e.g., remote processing, remote interviews, the use of advanced analytics).
• Eligible spouses, common-law partners or dependants can apply for an open work permit to facilitate faster economic integration to Canada while they await the processing of their permanent resident application.

Parents and Grandparents

• The last intake of new parents and grandparents’ applications was conducted in July 2025, with 10,636 applications received from a pool of sponsors created in 2020.

Upcoming milestones

• Following Royal Assent of the Reuniting Families Act, IRCC is updating the Super Visa income requirement to provide additional flexibilities for hosts in Canada to meet the existing Low-Income cut-off.
• Super Visa applicants must have private health insurance to cover their stay in Canada. IRCC is working to expand qualified insurance providers to include companies outside of Canada to be added to those in Canada to meet eligibility requirements.