Immigration in Brampton
Family sponsorship, Brampton’s most common route
In the 2021 Census, 52.9% of Brampton residents in private households were immigrants. Of those admitted between 1980 and 2021, more came as family-sponsored immigrants (about 45%) than as economic immigrants (about 44%), and 6.2% of all residents were non-permanent residents, such as work and study permit holders and refugee claimants (Statistics Canada).
Those two figures describe the questions that matter most in Brampton: who in the family can sponsor whom, and how to keep everyone’s temporary status valid in the meantime. This page covers both from a Brampton household’s point of view. Every pathway, including Express Entry, citizenship and humanitarian applications, is explained on our immigration law page.
How we work with Brampton clients
We have one office, at 3319 Sheppard Ave E in Toronto. Consultations are by phone, so the whole family can be on the call from home, and documents are exchanged by email. You speak with Rosalie Wannes directly, in English or Armenian (service in Arabic is also available). Sworn documents, such as a common-law declaration or an affidavit from a relative, are commissioned at our office. For our other local work, see our Brampton page.
Before you sponsor
When the sponsor was sponsored too
In a household where several members arrived through family sponsorship, the sponsor’s own history is often the first thing to check. A sponsorship refused because of the sponsor is usually avoidable.
Timing bars that catch families out
Under IRCC’s sponsor eligibility rules, you can’t sponsor a spouse or partner if you were sponsored as a spouse or partner yourself and became a permanent resident less than five years ago, or if you sponsored a previous partner and three years haven’t passed since they became a permanent resident. Receiving social assistance for a reason other than disability, being behind on court-ordered support or an earlier undertaking, and certain convictions can also bar you. Dates matter, so we confirm them from your documents.
Undertakings already in force
If you, or someone else in the household, has already sponsored a relative, that undertaking is still running: three years for a spouse or partner, up to ten years or until age 25 for a dependent child, and twenty years for parents and grandparents. It continues even if the relationship ends. Before adding a new undertaking, look at what the household has already promised.
Who should sponsor
Where more than one family member could sponsor, the right choice depends on eligibility, income where it matters, and who is best placed to carry the undertaking. Our family sponsorship page covers the full list of requirements and the evidence each relationship needs.
Why Wannes Law
A Toronto law firm that keeps you informed
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A licensed Ontario lawyer
Rosalie Wannes, licensed by the Law Society of Ontario, is responsible for your file from start to finish.
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Fees before you commit
Instant online quotes and published flat fees, so you know the cost before you retain us.
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Every step explained
Plain-language explanations of what happens, what you provide and what we handle, at every stage.
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Direct access
Reach your lawyer and law clerk directly by phone and email while your matter is underway.
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Sign in person or remotely
Meet at our Sheppard Ave E office in Toronto, or review documents by video and courier the originals.
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English, Armenian and Arabic
Talk through your matter in the language you are most comfortable with.
Who you can bring
Spouses, children and parents: what each route needs
Each family member comes through a different route with its own evidence. Knowing which applies avoids applying under the wrong one.
Spouse or partner
- Married spouses, common-law partners after 12 months living together, or conjugal partners in narrow circumstances
- Evidence that the relationship is genuine, organised around its history
- Inland or outland: the choice affects work, travel and appeal rights
- Common-law couples usually complete the IMM 5409 declaration, sworn before a commissioner
Dependent children
- Generally under 22 and not a spouse or partner
- Older children only if they have depended on a parent since before 22 because of a physical or mental condition
- Custody and consent documents where the other parent stays abroad
Parents and grandparents
- The Parents and Grandparents Program is paused as of September 2026, with no new interest to sponsor forms accepted
- The super visa allows stays of up to five years at a time, with a host income requirement, private medical insurance and a medical exam
- Visitor visas for shorter family events, with evidence of ties to home
Our guide to bringing your loved ones to Canada walks through each route in plain language.
Work and study permits
Keeping temporary status valid while the family waits
With one in sixteen Brampton residents on temporary status at the last census, many households include someone whose right to stay depends on a permit date.
Extend before expiry
If IRCC receives an extension application before a work or study permit expires, the person can generally stay and keep working or studying on the same conditions while it is decided. After expiry, restoration may be possible within 90 days, but without the right to work in the meantime. See our work permits page for the detail.
Spouses of workers and students
Since January 2025, open work permits for spouses of foreign workers and students are limited to spouses of workers in certain occupations and of students in certain graduate and professional programs. A spouse being sponsored for permanent residence from inside Canada is assessed differently and may be able to get an open work permit through the sponsorship.
Graduates and the move to PR
A post-graduation work permit is issued only once, and since November 2024 most applicants need language results and, for many programs, an eligible field of study. Planning the path to permanent residence early, through the Canadian Experience Class or Ontario’s nominee program, is covered on our permanent residence page.
In Brampton
Free help in Brampton, alongside your application
Brampton has well-organised free settlement help. Use it for the practical side of settling in, and involve a lawyer for status and applications.
Free local services
- Brampton Library’s Library Settlement Partnership: 30-minute one-on-one appointments on jobs, housing, schools, health care and banking, English conversation circles, and commissioner of oaths services
- The library also books monthly virtual legal advice appointments with the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario
- Immigration Peel, the Peel Newcomer Strategy Group’s directory of settlement services in Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon
What we handle
- Sponsor eligibility checks and the choice of sponsor
- Spousal, child and super visa applications
- Permit extensions, restoration and changes of employer
- Refusals, interviews and procedural fairness letters
Related for Brampton families
- Buying a home with extended family, including a second unit: our Brampton real estate page
- Wills that name guardians and cover relatives abroad: our Brampton wills page
Questions
Brampton immigration questions
I was sponsored by my husband four years ago. Can I sponsor a new spouse?
Not yet. A person who was sponsored as a spouse or partner can’t sponsor a new spouse or partner until five years after becoming a permanent resident. Check the exact date on your permanent residence record.
Can I sponsor my parents to Brampton this year?
Not through the Parents and Grandparents Program: as of September 2026 IRCC has paused it and isn’t accepting new interest to sponsor forms. A super visa is usually the practical alternative, allowing stays of up to five years at a time.
Does a relative’s earlier sponsorship affect whether I can sponsor?
Only if you signed it. An undertaking binds the sponsor, and any co-signer, for its full length, and being in default on one can bar you from sponsoring again. A brother’s or parent’s undertaking doesn’t affect your own eligibility.
Can my 23-year-old daughter come with my sponsored spouse?
Only if she qualifies as a dependent child: generally under 22, or older only if she has depended on you since before 22 because of a physical or mental condition. Otherwise she needs her own pathway.
Do you have an office in Brampton?
No. Our only office is at 3319 Sheppard Ave E, Suite 103, in Toronto. Consultations are by phone, in English, Armenian or Arabic.
Can the library’s commissioner of oaths replace a lawyer?
A commissioner can administer an oath or declaration. They don’t advise on whether you are eligible, choose your sponsorship class or prepare your application. For those, speak with a lawyer.
Areas We Serve
Immigration advice across Peel and the GTA
Phone consultations wherever your family lives.
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Scarborough
Immigration lawyer for Scarborough clients. Our office is on Sheppard Ave E.
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North York
Immigration lawyer for North York clients.
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Markham
Immigration lawyer for Markham clients.
Here to help
Check the sponsor first. Then build the case.
Book a free 15-minute call, or tell us about your family in the quote form.
Prefer to talk now? Call (647) 707-7718 · Service in English, Armenian and Arabic