In order to sponsor a family member for permanent residence in Canada, sponsors must exceed the minimum necessary income for the program.
The income requirement varies depending on the number of family members being supported in Canada, the location of the sponsor in Canada, and the number of family members being sponsored.
For parent and grandparent sponsorship, the sponsor in Canada will only be eligible if they exceed the MNI for three consecutive taxation years (except in the province of Quebec). This requirement ensures that sponsors who bring their parents and grandparents to Canada are ready for the financial responsibility that often comes with caring for elderly family members.
Sponsors under the Parent And Grandparent Sponsorship must meet the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) outlined in the chart below. The MNI figures below are Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) figures, plus 30 per cent.
The figures below represent the MNI for individuals living in Canada outside the Province of Quebec:
| Size of Family Unit | MNI 2018 |
MNI 2017 |
MNI 2016 |
MNI 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 persons | $40,379 | $39,813 | $39,371 | $38,618 |
| 3 persons | $49,641 | $48,945 | $48,404 | $47,476 |
| 4 persons | $60,271 | $59,426 | $58,768 | $57,642 |
| 5 persons | $68,358 | $67,400 | $66,654 | $65,377 |
| 6 persons | $77,095 | $76,015 | $75,174 | $73,733 |
| 7 persons | $85,835 | $84,631 | $83,695 | $82,091 |
| Each additional person | $8,740 | $8,616 | $8,522 | $8,358 |
Note: To prove they meet the MNI requirement, potential sponsors must provide their Notice of Assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for the last 3 taxation years before applying.
| Size of Family Unit | Minimum necessary gross income |
|---|---|
| 1 person (your child or grandchild) | $24,949 |
| 2 persons | $31,061 |
| 3 persons | $38,185 |
| 4 persons | $46,362 |
| 5 persons | $52,583 |
| 6 persons | $59,304 |
| 7 persons | $66,027 |
| More than 7 persons, for each additional person, add | $6,723 |
Sponsors living in the province of Quebec must meet different income requirements. Sponsors are presumed capable of fulfilling an undertaking if, over the past 12 months, they have had gross income from Canadian sources equal to the total of the income appearing in Table 1 and Table 2 below. The income in both tables is indexed each year.
| Size of Family Unit | Basic annual income required |
|---|---|
| 1 person | $23,855 |
| 2 persons | $32,241 |
| 3 persons | $39,806 |
| 4 persons | $45,782 |
| 5 persons | $50,953 |
| More than 5 persons, for each additional person add | $5,171 |
Table 2 below refers solely to the persons being sponsored. Principal applicants should add the relevant figure from Table 1 above to the relevant figure in the right-side column of Table 2 to arrive at the total minimum income required.
| Additional income required of the sponsor to satisfy the basic needs of the sponsored person and his or her family members | ||
| Number of persons 18 years of age or over | Number of persons under 18 years | Gross annual income required of the sponsor |
| 1 | $8,267 | |
| 2 | $13,103 | |
| The gross annual income required increases by $4,228 for each additional person under 18 years of age. | ||
| Number of persons 18 years of age or over | Number of persons under 18 years | Gross annual income required of the sponsor |
| 1 | $17,470 | |
| 1 | 1 | $23,472 |
| 1 | 2 | $25,504 |
| The gross annual income required increases by $2,979 for each additional person under 18 years of age. | ||
| Number of persons 18 years of age or over | Number of persons under 18 years | Gross annual income required of the sponsor |
| 2 | $25,619 | |
| 2 | 1 | $28,698 |
| 2 | 2 | $30,982 |
| The gross annual income required increases by $2,274 for each additional person under 18 years of age and by $8,145 for each additional person 18 years of age or over. | ||