Top Pathways to Immigrate to Canada with Family
Canada's popular economic immigration programs, like Express Entry and Family Sponsorship allow you to bring along your spouse or common-law partner and dependent children to Canada. Also, you can bring your family members and certain relatives later once you qualify as a sponsor.
As mentioned above, Canada's permanent residence visa programs are the ones you may choose to include your family members (spouse and dependent children) in your visa application. There are a few temporary visa categories as well, i.e. study and work permit, which allows you to bring your families under specific circumstances.
Federal Express Entry System
Most of Canada's economic immigration programs allow you as a primary applicant to include your spouse and dependent children in the PR visa application. Once your visa application is approved, and you get a PR status in Canada, your family members will also become eligible to avail all the Canada PR benefits along with you.
The key benefits include:
- Similar rights & responsibilities as of a Canadian citizen, except a right to vote in Canadian elections
- A right to buy property in Canada
- Right to live, work or study in any Canadian territory or province
- Get social security benefits, which citizens receive, like becoming a member of Canada's Pension Plan
- Get coverage under the universal health care system of Canada
- Get rights, freedoms, and protections under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- Eligibility to apply for citizenship of Canada after meeting residency requirements
To apply under the Express Entry system, you must find your eligibility for any one of the three economic immigration programs managed under EE, i.e.
- Federal Skilled Worker Program
- Federal Skilled Trades Program
- Canadian Experience Program
Once you choose a suitable program based on your profile assessment report, you must create an EE profile online and enter the pool by meeting the minimum eligibility criteria. While in the pool of candidates, your profile will be assessed by the IRCC using Comprehensive Ranking System and you'll get a score based on the information you share.
Including family members in your application
You can include your spouse or common-law partner and dependent children (below 21 years) in your visa application. The IRCC can consider a child older than 21 years as a dependent only if he/she is not financially stable due to any serious mental or physical condition.
But, you cannot include your siblings, cousins, aunts/uncles, nieces/nephews, parents or grandparents in your application to accompany you to Canada. You can bring them once you get a PR status and qualify as a sponsor under a suitable Family Sponsorship Program.
