How to Immigrate to Canada With Your Family: Common-Law Partner, Children, Funds, Fees
Who to include, what counts as common-law, the dependent child age limit, proof of funds, fees per person and sponsorship. No free route exists.
To immigrate to Canada with your family through Express Entry, you include your spouse or common-law partner and your dependent children in your permanent residence application. The other route is sponsorship by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, under the residence conditions given below. Neither is free: IRCC charges a fee for each person. Rules checked on canada.ca on November 1, 2026.
Who can be included in an Express Entry application?
Your spouse or common-law partner, your dependent children, and the dependent children of your spouse or common-law partner. For them to come with you, IRCC requires that each meets the requirements of your program, that the children qualify as dependants, and that nobody is inadmissible to Canada. How a partner affects your CRS score:
How to Calculate Your Express Entry CRS Score, Step by Step
To work out your score, with or without a partner:
What is a common-law partner for IRCC, and how do you prove it?
A common-law partner is not legally married to you, is 18 or older, and has lived with you for at least 12 consecutive months. If either of you left the home, it must have been briefly, for family obligations or for work or business travel. IRCC considers the union over as soon as one of you ends it.
You complete form IMM 5409, the Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Union. IRCC lists as proof joint ownership of a home, joint leases or rent receipts, shared utility bills (electricity, gas, phone) and important personal documents with the same address, such as a driver's licence or ID. You do not need all of them, and IRCC may consider other evidence.
The exact list of your documents, for your case:
Up to what age is a child a dependant?
A child is dependent if they are under 22 and have no spouse or common-law partner. At 22 or older, a child qualifies only if they have depended on their parents for financial support since before turning 22 and cannot support themselves because of a physical or mental condition.
For all three Express Entry programs, the age that counts is the one on the day IRCC receives your complete permanent residence application, not the day you create your profile. A child who is 21 when the profile is created and 22 when you apply therefore falls outside the first category. After that date the age is no longer checked, but the child must still have no spouse or common-law partner until processing ends.
Must you declare the whole family, even members who stay behind?
Yes. IRCC states that your family members must have the medical exam even if they are not coming with you. Your spouse, common-law partner and all your dependent children also count in the proof of funds, whether or not they come, and even if they are already Canadian citizens or permanent residents.
Leaving someone out costs you later: according to IRCC, family members who were not declared in your permanent residence application are not eligible for family sponsorship. A temporary public policy let some undeclared family members be sponsored; it ended on September 10, 2026. If you marry, or a child is born, after you apply, IRCC lets you pay the fees after the application to add that person. The family's medical exam:
How much proof of funds does a family need?
The amount depends on family size, spouse and children included. IRCC table dated July 7, 2025, checked on November 1, 2026: CAD 15,263 for one person, 19,001 for two, 23,360 for three, 28,362 for four, 32,168 for five, 36,280 for six, 40,392 for seven, then 4,112 for each additional person. IRCC updates the amounts every year, so check on the day you apply.
The requirement applies to the Federal Skilled Worker and Federal Skilled Trades programs. If your spouse comes with you, a joint account counts; so does an account in your spouse's name alone, if you can prove you have access to the money. The funds must be available when you apply and when IRCC issues the permanent resident visa. Accepted accounts and mistakes to avoid:
To check your file is consistent:
What does a family application cost, and is there a free route?
No route is free. Fees from the IRCC fee page, modified on September 21, 2026: CAD 1,590 for the principal applicant, right of permanent residence fee included, the same for the spouse or common-law partner, CAD 270 per dependent child, plus biometrics at CAD 85 per person and at most CAD 170 per family. A couple with two children pays 1,590 + 1,590 + 270 + 270 + 170 = CAD 3,890. Language test, medical exam and tickets come on top. Be wary of any "free" immigration offer. The amounts in CFA francs:
Canada permanent residence and visa fees in 2026, in CFA francs
The full budget:
How much does immigrating to Canada from Cameroon cost? The budget item by item (2026)
This budget, in dollars and CFA francs, in the site's tool:
How do you sponsor your family?
You can sponsor if you are a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident or a person registered under the Indian Act, if you are 18 or older, and if you live in Canada. A citizen living abroad can also sponsor, if they show they intend to live in Canada when the sponsored people become permanent residents. A study or work permit holder is not on that list, and a permanent resident living abroad cannot sponsor.
You can sponsor your spouse, your common-law partner (12 months of living together, as above), your conjugal partner, who lives outside Canada and with whom you have had an exclusive, interdependent relationship for at least a year, and your dependent children, under the same age rules. The fees are CAD 1,260 for the spouse or partner, right of permanent residence fee included, and CAD 180 per child included: a spouse and two children come to CAD 1,620, biometrics extra. You also sign an undertaking of 3 years for a spouse or common-law partner, and of 10 years or until the child turns 25, whichever comes first, for a child under 22. It cannot be cancelled or shortened.
Where do you start?
Start with the free assessment of your profile:
An adviser will then go over your case during an appointment: