Financial Ability

The “financial ability” component plays a crucial role in the success of a Family Class Sponsorship application. It is in fact the deciding factor when it comes to this category of sponsorship applications.

The “financial ability” of Family Class Sponsorship applications can broadly be classified into two. They are:

• Financial ability requirements for applications made under the family class category in any province other than the province of Quebec;
• Financial ability requirements for applications made under the family class category in the province of Quebec.

Financial ability requirements for family class applications in any province except Quebec

In this category, the sponsor must be able to prove that he or she meets (or exceeds) the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI), also known as the Low-Income Cut-Off (LICO) with respect to the sponsor’s family size, as established by Statistics Canada, unless:

• The sponsored person is the spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner of the sponsor; OR
• The sponsored person is a dependent child of the sponsor.

The sponsor is eligible for sponsoring the individual only if the below deductions from the “total family income” meets or exceeds the values provided in the table below.

• Allowances from provincial or municipal welfare assistance programs;
• Workmen’s compensation board payments;
• Payments for any social or welfare benefits provided by one (or more) federal, provincial, or municipal sources;
• Payments for any employment training provided by one (or more) federal, provincial, or municipal sources;
• Any and all debts of the sponsor.

Note: Workmen’s compensation payments for permanent disabilities are waived-off from this requirement.

  Source: https://www.statcan.gc.ca/

In case if the sponsor is unable to meet the minimum income requirements, the sponsor’s spouse or common-law partner may co-sign in the sponsorship application. In this case:

1. The combined income of the couple must meet or exceed the minimum income requirement exhibited in the table above; AND
2. The co-signer should also meet all the sponsorship requirements of the family class program.

Financial ability requirements for family class applications in the province of Quebec In this category, the sponsor must meet the minimum income requirements for the given family size as defined by the Quebec government, unless:

• The sponsored person is the spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner of the sponsor; OR
• The sponsored person is a dependent child of the sponsor.

Table Q1 – minimum income requirements for a sponsor for sponsoring a dependent in the province of Quebec:

  Source: https://www.statcan.gc.ca/

Table Q2 – minimum income requirements for a sponsor for sponsoring a non-dependent in the province of Quebec (the person may be below 18 years of age, 18 years of age, or over 18 years of age, as the case may be; but not a dependent to the sponsor):

  Source: https://www.statcan.gc.ca/ Important notes: In table Q2 above:  

• The gross income (annual) required by the sponsor will need to be increased by C$4,008 for each additional person under the age 18 if the total number of persons who are aged above 18 is equal to 0;

• The gross income (annual) required by the sponsor will need to be increased by C$2,778 for each additional person under the age 18 if the total number of persons who are aged above 18 is equal to 1;

• The gross income (annual) required by the sponsor will need to be increased by C$2,109 for each additional person under the age 18, AND, by C$7,553 for each additional person above the age of 18.