Ask around at a family gathering in Brampton, and someone will likely tell you that new immigrants have a year to bring over their family. That is not an accurate statement of the law. The one-year window, as immigration practitioners call it, is a particular rule for people who came to Canada as refugees or who obtained protection here. A skilled worker or provincial nominee who became a permanent resident without a family member cannot rely on it, however the rule is described online.
If you do fall inside the rule, it is valuable. It lets a family member who was properly listed on your application apply for permanent residence on the strength of that earlier application, without the sponsor having to go through the usual family class sponsorship. It also runs on a strict clock, and it depends on steps you may have taken, or failed to take, a long time ago.
This article offers general information rather than legal advice. Refugee and family reunification rules and the instructions under them can change, so check IRCC’s website and speak with a lawyer or authorized representative about your own timeline.
Who the Window Actually Helps
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations contain two related provisions. Each addresses a different way of arriving at protection.
Resettled refugees. Under section 141, a person selected abroad and resettled to Canada, whether as a government-assisted or privately sponsored refugee, may have a non-accompanying family member issued a permanent resident visa. This family member must have been included in the refugee’s application when it was made, or added before departure for Canada. They must then apply to an officer outside Canada within one year of the day refugee protection was conferred on the refugee.
Protected persons in Canada. Under section 176, a person who was found to need protection in Canada, for example after a successful hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board, may list family members in their application for permanent residence. A family member who is outside Canada when that application is made must apply to an officer outside Canada within one year after the day the applicant becomes a permanent resident.
Anyone else should look elsewhere. An economic immigrant whose spouse stayed behind would usually use spousal sponsorship, and a parent who immigrated through work would ordinarily sponsor a child through the family class. Those routes have their own rules and have no equivalent one-year fast lane.
Why the Timing Differs Between the Two Groups
Note the difference in the wording. For a resettled refugee, the year runs from the day protection is conferred, which in practice is generally connected to their becoming a permanent resident under the visa on arrival in Canada. For a protected person who applied within Canada, the year runs from the day they become a permanent resident, which may be long after they first received protection.
This distinction can matter a lot. Imagine a hypothetical protected person living in Brampton who was accepted by the Board and only later landed. Their family’s one-year period would not start on the date of the hearing decision. By contrast, a resettled family’s period starts early in their life in Canada, at a moment when they may be consumed by finding housing, enrolling children in school, and learning how transit works.
Do not work out the deadline from memory. Find the date on your confirmation of permanent residence or other landing document, then speak to someone who can confirm how it applies to you. Treat the last day as a date to beat by a comfortable margin, not a target.
Who Counts as a Family Member
The window applies to a family member as the regulations define that term. That generally covers a spouse or common-law partner, a dependent child, and a dependent child of a dependent child. Parents, adult siblings, nieces, and nephews are not covered, however close they may be to you and however much you depended on them when you fled. They would need their own path to Canada.
A dependent child is generally a child under 22 without a spouse or common-law partner, or an older child who has depended on their parents since before age 22 because of a physical or mental condition. The date used to fix the child’s age can be different from the date you might expect, so a young person nearing the limit should not be written off without checking. It is also not safe to assume that a child who is still under 22 qualifies if they have married.
The Listing Requirement Is the Real Gate
The one-year rule can seem like a simple deadline. In reality, the deciding moment may have come years before the deadline starts.
To use the window, the family member needs to have been on the application. For a resettled refugee, they must be included when the application was made, or added before departure. For a protected person, the guide for permanent residence applications instructs applicants that all family members must be listed, including those in Canada and those abroad, even when they are not being processed. IRCC warns that leaving someone off may prevent you from sponsoring them later.
That warning reflects a harsh rule. A family member who was not declared and examined when they should have been can be excluded from the family class altogether under the regulations. People leave relatives off forms for many reasons: a child from an earlier relationship that was kept private, a marriage performed in a religious ceremony, a form filled out by someone else in a refugee camp, or a belief that a child who was being raised by grandparents did not count. An explanation does not cancel the consequences, though there may be other avenues to explore, such as a humanitarian and compassionate request or a public policy. If you think someone may have been left off, speak to a lawyer before you file anything further.
If a family member can’t be located, listing them still matters. IRCC’s guide says that family members whose whereabouts are unknown get one year from the day you are granted permanent residence to apply at a visa office, and that they are processed as part of your application. Listing a child you have lost contact with is not a pointless exercise. It could matter a great deal if the child is found.
What the Family Member Must Do, and When
The rule requires the family member to submit their application to an officer outside Canada within the period. Keep several practical points in mind.
The deadline concerns the application, not arrival. IRCC’s manuals have long indicated that the family member may arrive after the year has ended, provided the application reached the appropriate office in time. Do not wait for documents that would make the application perfect while the time runs out. Discuss with your representative what must be filed by the deadline and what can follow.
The family member still has to be examined. A person found inadmissible on certain serious grounds will be refused, including security, human or international rights violations, serious criminality, and organized criminality. They will generally still need identity and relationship documents, and they may be asked to attend an interview or undergo a medical examination. In some cases, an officer may suggest DNA testing to establish a parental link where documents are unavailable.
Where a refugee was privately sponsored, the regulations require that the sponsor be notified of the family member’s application, and an officer must be satisfied that there are adequate financial arrangements for resettlement. If you came through a sponsorship group in the Peel area, tell your sponsors early. They need to plan too. For family members intending to live in Quebec, provincial selection rules apply, though that will not usually affect someone settling in Brampton.
Common Ways the Window Gets Lost
People usually lose the opportunity through misunderstanding rather than neglect. These are some recurring patterns:
- Assuming that the settlement agency or the sponsorship group has handled it. They may not have, and it remains your family’s responsibility.
- Thinking the year starts when the family has settled in, or when documents finally arrive from overseas.
- Waiting until a spouse has a passport, in a country where obtaining one is unsafe or close to impossible.
- Filing to the wrong place or with missing forms, so that the application is returned close to the deadline.
- Marrying after landing and assuming the new spouse falls under the rule. A later marriage generally means sponsorship instead.
- Failing to report changes in the family, such as a new child born before departure.
A resettled family should also pay attention to any new child or new marriage before departure, since those need to be reported to the visa office before the trip.
If the Year Has Passed
Missing the window is serious, but it does not necessarily end the family’s hopes. A family member who was properly listed and examined may still be sponsored through the family class if the refugee or protected person, now a permanent resident or citizen, meets the sponsorship requirements. Sponsoring a spouse or dependent child typically does not carry the same income test as sponsoring a parent. However, it adds time and an undertaking, and the whole process can be longer. Our permanent residence page describes these applications in general terms.
Where a relative was not listed, the problem can be more difficult, and the options may depend on discretionary relief. Humanitarian and compassionate considerations, or a public policy in force at the time, may be worth reviewing. These are not simple forms to submit without advice, because the explanation of why someone was not declared needs to be accurate and supported.
Any refugee who has a family member at risk overseas also should know that the window is not the only concern. A family member facing an urgent danger may need different steps, and it may be appropriate to tell the visa office about the urgency in writing.
A Short Checklist for Your Family
If you think this rule applies to you, gather the following in one folder:
- Your confirmation of permanent residence, notice of decision, or other document that shows your status date.
- A copy of every form you filed listing family members, if you can get them.
- Marriage, birth, and custody documents for each relative you hope to bring.
- Contact details and current location for each family member.
- Any letters from IRCC or a visa office.
If you do not have copies of your earlier forms, a request under access to information legislation can help you see what IRCC has on file, although that takes time. Do not let a pending request push you past a deadline. If you would like to go over your dates and options, you can contact our office or read about our immigration law work. Nobody can promise that a family reunification application will succeed, but understanding this rule early can make a real difference to what remains open to you.
Sources and Further Reading
- Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, section 141: Non-accompanying family member
- Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, section 176: Family members and the one-year time limit
- IRCC: Guide 5205, Applying for permanent residence from within Canada for protected persons and Convention refugees