On This Page, You Will Find:
- Who can sponsor a relative under the ‘other relatives’ rules
- Orphaned brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces and grandchildren
- The ‘lonely Canadian’ provision: sponsoring one relative of any age
- Income, the undertaking and Quebec’s separate rules
- Fees and processing times
- What to do when no sponsorship category fits
- Frequently asked questions
Most Canadian family sponsorship happens through a short list of close relationships: spouses, common-law and conjugal partners, dependent children, parents and grandparents. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) also runs a much narrower category for everyone else – brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, grandchildren and cousins. It is often described as sponsoring ‘other’ relatives, and the eligibility gates are far tighter than most applicants expect.
There are only two doors into this category, and both are deliberately restrictive. The first covers orphaned minors closely related to the sponsor. The second, commonly called the ‘lonely Canadian’ provision, is available only to sponsors who have effectively no other family in Canada and no closer relative they could sponsor instead. This page sets out the current requirements as published by IRCC, along with the realistic alternatives when neither door opens. For the wider picture, see our family sponsorship immigration overview.
Who Can Sponsor A Relative Under The ‘Other Relatives’ Rules
To sponsor a relative in this category, IRCC requires that you:
- are at least 18 years old
- are a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or a person registered in Canada under the Indian Act
- live in Canada – your primary residential address must be in Canada when you submit the application and until IRCC makes a decision
- meet the income guidelines set out in IRCC’s instruction guide for this category
The residency condition matters. Unlike spousal sponsorship, where a Canadian citizen living abroad can sponsor a spouse if they intend to return, sponsors of ‘other’ relatives must be living in Canada throughout processing. If you are considering a spousal application instead, see our guide to sponsoring a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner.
You may be barred from sponsoring if you are in prison, are an undischarged bankrupt, received social assistance for a reason other than disability, are in default on an immigration loan, a performance bond or court-ordered family support payments, failed to meet the terms of a previous sponsorship, were convicted of certain violent, sexual or family-related offences, or are subject to a removal order. The default-on-support-payments bar does not apply to sponsors living in Quebec, which applies its own rules.
Orphaned Brothers, Sisters, Nephews, Nieces And Grandchildren
You can sponsor an orphaned brother, sister, nephew, niece or grandchild only if every one of the following is true. They must be related to you by blood or adoption; they must be under 18 years old; both of their parents must have passed away; and they must be single, meaning not married and not in a common-law relationship.
IRCC is equally explicit about when this route is closed. You cannot sponsor the child if one or both parents is still alive, if nobody knows where the parents are, if the parents abandoned the child, if someone other than the parents is caring for the child while one or both parents are alive, or if the parents are in jail or otherwise detained. In short, the category is limited to genuine orphans – a child in a difficult or unsafe situation with a living parent does not qualify, however sympathetic the circumstances.
The ‘Lonely Canadian’ Provision: Sponsoring One Relative Of Any Age
The second route, set out in section 117(1)(h) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, lets you sponsor one relative of any age. It is available only to sponsors who are, in immigration terms, alone in Canada. You must meet all of the following:
- you are related to the person by blood or adoption
- you do not have a living relative you could sponsor instead – specifically a spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, son or daughter, parent, grandparent, orphaned sibling, orphaned nephew or niece, or orphaned grandchild
- you do not have any relatives – including an aunt or uncle, or any of the relatives listed above – who is a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, or a registered Indian under the Indian Act
Both limbs of the test must be satisfied. A sponsor with a living parent abroad fails the first limb, because the parent could be sponsored under the parent and grandparent sponsorship stream instead. A sponsor with an aunt who is already a Canadian permanent resident fails the second limb, even if that aunt is estranged. IRCC’s own published example makes the second point plainly: a Canadian citizen whose only Canadian relative has died cannot sponsor their late uncle’s spouse, because the two are not related by blood or adoption.
If the relative you sponsor has a spouse, partner or dependent children who will accompany them to Canada, they must be included on the same sponsorship application.
Income, The Undertaking And Quebec’s Separate Rules
Minimum necessary income does apply here. Unlike spousal and dependent-child sponsorship, where no income test is imposed, sponsors of ‘other’ relatives must meet published income guidelines and complete a Financial Evaluation form (IMM 1283) as part of the application. The threshold is drawn from the Statistics Canada Low Income Cut-Off and rises with the combined size of your family and the family you are sponsoring. IRCC publishes the current figures in the income table attached to its instruction guide, and those figures are updated annually – check the table for the year in which you apply rather than relying on a number quoted elsewhere. The higher, three-year, LICO-plus-30-percent standard that applies to parent and grandparent sponsorship is specific to that stream.
The undertaking is the binding financial promise you make to IRCC. For an ‘other’ relative it runs for 10 years in every province except Quebec, beginning on the day the person you sponsor becomes a permanent resident. It does not end if you divorce or separate, if the person you sponsored becomes a Canadian citizen, or if your own finances deteriorate through job loss or debt. If the person you sponsored collects social assistance during that period, you must repay it, and you cannot sponsor anyone else until you have. The person you sponsor must also sign an agreement committing to make an effort to support themselves; sponsored dependent children under 22 are not required to sign.
Quebec runs a parallel process. Sponsors living in Quebec must meet Quebec’s own eligibility requirements and sign a separate undertaking with the Government of Quebec, and Quebec’s undertaking periods differ from the federal ones. Timing is critical: do not submit your Quebec undertaking application until IRCC tells you to, because Quebec will not process it if you file early.
Fees And Processing Times
Government fees on the current IRCC fee list, in Canadian dollars, are:
- sponsor a relative aged 22 or older – $1,260, which includes the sponsorship fee, processing fee and the $600 Right of Permanent Residence Fee, or $660 without the RPRF
- sponsor a relative under 22 who is not your dependent child – $780, or $180 without the RPRF
- sponsor an orphaned relative, dependent child or adopted child – $180 per child
- include the spouse or partner of your relative – $1,260, or $660 without the RPRF
- biometrics – $85 per person, to a maximum of $170 per family applying at the same time
One useful detail is easy to miss: the Right of Permanent Residence Fee does not apply to sponsorship applications for an orphaned brother, sister, niece, nephew or grandchild. Applications are now submitted through IRCC’s permanent residence online portal, with the sponsorship application and the permanent residence application filed at the same time.
On processing times, IRCC publishes figures through a dynamic online tool that is updated regularly rather than as a fixed published number, and we were not able to confirm a current figure for this category from that tool at the time of writing. Check IRCC’s processing times tool for the current estimate before you plan around a date, and see our page on family sponsorship processing times for context on how these estimates behave.
What To Do When No Sponsorship Category Fits
Most people who research this category discover they do not qualify. Three realistic alternatives are worth assessing honestly.
Express Entry points for a sibling in Canada. A candidate in the Express Entry pool earns 15 additional Comprehensive Ranking System points for having a brother or sister living in Canada who is 18 or older and a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. Fifteen points is a modest boost, not a pathway on its own, and it does nothing for aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews or cousins. Note also that IRCC removed job offer points from the CRS as of March 25, 2025, so scores that once relied on an arranged employment bonus no longer do. Our Express Entry guide and CRS points grid set out how the scoring works.
Provincial nominee programs. Provinces and territories run their own streams with their own criteria, and several treat a family connection in the province as a selection factor or an eligibility condition. A provincial nomination is worth 600 CRS points through the Express Entry route, which in practice guarantees an invitation to apply. Criteria are set by each province and change frequently, so check the province’s own instructions. Quebec does not operate a provincial nominee program.
Humanitarian and compassionate consideration. Section 25(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act allows a foreign national who is inadmissible or ineligible in any immigration class to seek permanent residence, or an exemption from a requirement of the Act, on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. It is available only to people already in Canada who are not eligible to apply for permanent residence from within Canada under the spouse or common-law partner, economic, protected person or temporary resident permit holder classes. Only one H&C application may be under consideration at a time.
IRCC is unusually blunt about the threshold, stating that applying for H&C consideration is an exceptional measure and not simply another means of applying for permanent resident status in Canada, and that the cost and inconvenience of returning home to apply are not sufficient grounds. Applicants must identify the specific exemption sought and demonstrate sufficient and compelling reasons for it. IRCC does not publish an approval rate on its H&C application pages, so we cannot state one here – but the department’s own framing, and the absence of any appeal right from a refusal, should set expectations. H&C is a last resort for genuinely exceptional cases, not a workaround for a family relationship that falls outside the sponsorship categories.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sponsor my brother or sister to come to Canada?
Only in narrow circumstances. You can sponsor an orphaned brother or sister if both their parents have died, they are under 18, they are single, and they are related to you by blood or adoption. An adult sibling can be sponsored only under the 'lonely Canadian' provision, which requires that you have no closer relative you could sponsor instead and no relatives at all who are Canadian citizens, permanent residents or registered Indians.
Does the minimum necessary income requirement apply to sponsoring other relatives?
Yes. Sponsors in this category must meet IRCC's published income guidelines and file a Financial Evaluation form (IMM 1283) with the application. The threshold is based on the Statistics Canada Low Income Cut-Off and increases with the combined family size of the sponsor and the sponsored group. This differs from spousal and dependent-child sponsorship, where no income test applies.
How long is the undertaking for an 'other' relative?
Ten years in every province except Quebec, starting the day the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident. Quebec applies its own undertaking periods and requires a separate undertaking with the Government of Quebec. The undertaking survives divorce, the sponsored person's naturalisation as a Canadian citizen, and any decline in the sponsor's own financial circumstances.
Can I sponsor my aunt, uncle or cousin?
Only through the 'lonely Canadian' provision, and only one such relative. You must be related to them by blood or adoption, have no living spouse, partner, child, parent, grandparent, orphaned sibling, orphaned niece or nephew or orphaned grandchild you could sponsor instead, and have no relatives at all – including an aunt or uncle – who are Canadian citizens, permanent residents or registered Indians. Relatives by marriage do not qualify.
What are the government fees to sponsor a relative in this category?
On the current IRCC fee list, sponsoring a relative aged 22 or older costs $1,260 including the $600 Right of Permanent Residence Fee, or $660 without it. Sponsoring an orphaned relative costs $180, and the Right of Permanent Residence Fee does not apply to orphaned brother, sister, niece, nephew or grandchild applications. Biometrics cost $85 per person, capped at $170 per family applying together.
