Sponsorship Agreement and Co-Signers

Sponsors and co-signers of all ages and sponsored persons of at least 22 years of age must sign an agreement that confirms their understanding of their mutual obligations and responsibilities. This is not an agreement to be taken lightly and comes with long-term consequences.

Spouses, common-law partners and conjugal partners of all ages must sign the agreement. The sponsor (and co-signer) agrees to support the sponsored persons and their family members during the period of the undertaking while, at the same time, the sponsored person agrees to make reasonable efforts to provide for their basic requirements and those of their family members. Sponsoring someone does not mean they get a free ride in Canada, either.

Through the Sponsorship Agreement, sponsors focus on their obligations but also on the sponsored members of the family class.

The spouse or common-law partner of the sponsor may co-sign an undertaking to help meet income requirements; however, common-law relationships must have met common-law requirements prior to co-signing anyway, and this pooling of resources should, in essence, already be applicable.

Not all family members may co-sign. Co-signers should not co-sign when financial requirements are not applicable or if the sponsor is able to meet the income requirements on their own.

Co-signers are however not sponsors; they are people willing to assist a sponsor by helping them meet financial requirements. This means that they have limitations within their abilities. Co-signers may not continue with a sponsorship after the sponsor has withdrawn. If co-signers wish to continue the application in their own right, they must reapply and be assessed individually as a new application based on its own merits.