Appendix E – The Low Income Cut Offs (LICO) and the Quebec Income Scale – 2011

The Background

The authorities formulated Low Income Cut Offs (LICOs) to convey the income levels at which a family might be in strained circumstances because the family will need to spend a greater portion of its income on the basics i.e. food, clothing and shelter, than an average family having a similar size does. The Low Income Cut Offs (LICOs) usually vary by family size and by the size of the community.

The authorities typically use the Low Income Cut Offs (LICOs) for establishing the minimum necessary income that sponsors will need to meet in order to satisfy the financial criteria for sponsorship. This is especially so if the authorities have not provided them with an exemption from this requirement. The authorities update the Low Income Cut Offs (LICOs) by applying the Consumer Price Index for the current year to the Low Income Cut Offs (LICOs) for the reference year. At present, the reference year is 1992.

In Quebec, the authorities typically determine the gross annual income that the authorities require from the sponsor for satisfying the basic needs of the sponsor’s own family unit and that of the sponsored person according to the Consumer Price Index that Statistics Canada usually publishes.

The Numbers for 2011

The Low Income Cut Off (LICO) levels remain in effect for one year i.e. from January 01 of this year to December 31. For sponsorship purposes, the authorities base the minimum necessary income on the Low Income Cut Off (LICO) levels of a household within an urban population of 500,000 or more. This is regardless of where the sponsor lives.

The figures applicable for Quebec are in effect from January 01 to December 31, 2011. It is worth highlighting that they are different from those that apply elsewhere in Canada.

Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)

Chapters

• What This Chapter is About
• The Program Objectives
• The Instruments and Delegations
• The Departmental Policy
• The Definitions
• The Roles and Responsibilities
• The Overview of the Case Processing Centre (CPC) Activities Pertaining to Sponsorship Applications
• The Procedures for Reviewing Sponsorship and Permanent Residence Applications for Spouses, Common-Law Partners, Conjugal Partners and Dependent Children
• The Guidelines for Reviewing Sponsorship Applications for Other Members of the Family Class
• The Procedures for Processing Sponsorship Applications by the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville (CPC-V) for Spouses or Common-Law Partners in Canada
• The Procedures for Handling a Discontinued or Withdrawn Undertaking
• The Guidelines for Assessing a Sponsor’s Eligibility
• The Guidelines for Assessing Bars to Sponsorship
• The Guidelines Pertaining to Undertakings
• The Guidelines Concerning the Sponsorship Agreement
• The Guidelines for Applying the Financial Test
• The Procedures for Processing Sponsorships Involving Adoptions
• The Guidelines for Referring Sponsorship Applications for Investigation to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
• The Procedures in Case the Applicant is Not a Member of the Family Class
• The Guidelines for Assessing Additional Family Members
• The Procedures for Dealing with Changes in Circumstances
• The Guidelines for the Suspension of Processing
• The Guidelines for Applications from Sponsors in Quebec
• Appendix A – The Eligibility Check for the Sponsor and the Co-Signer
• Appendix B – The Sample Letter to the Provincial / Territorial Adoption Authority to Request for the Issuance of the No Objection / No Involvement Letter or Notification of Agreement
• Appendix C – The Sample of Sponsorship Approval Letter for Adoption Cases from the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga (CPC-M) to the Sponsor
• Appendix D – The List of Offences Under the Criminal Code that Could Equate to Offences of a Sexual Nature and Offences Concerning Violence Against a Family Member
• Appendix E – The Low Income Cut Offs (LICO) and the Quebec Income Scale – 2011