How much income do I need to sponsor my parents to Canada?

It depends on your family size and on the year. For the 2025 intake a family of four needed $70,972 in 2024, $66,466 in 2023 and $64,306 in 2022. Every extra person past seven adds about ten thousand dollars a year. Enter your own numbers above to see your figure.

Do I have to meet the income requirement for all three years?

Yes. You must meet it in each of the three tax years before the date you apply. A strong year does not make up for a weak one. One year below the minimum is enough for IRCC to refuse the application.

Who counts in my family size for parent sponsorship?

Count yourself, your spouse or common-law partner, your dependent children and their children, and anyone you already sponsored whose undertaking is still running. Then add the parent or grandparent you are sponsoring, that person's spouse or partner, and their dependent children. All of them count even if they are not coming to Canada.

Can my spouse's income count toward the sponsorship requirement?

Yes, if your spouse or common-law partner co-signs the application. Their income is added to yours for all three years. A co-signer also counts in your family size for all three years, so the minimum you need goes up at the same time.

What if I live in Quebec?

Quebec sets its own income requirement for sponsors, so the federal table does not answer your question. Check the Quebec government page for the figures that apply to you. The rest of the federal process, including the three-year test, still applies.

What income does IRCC look at?

Your notice of assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency for each of the three tax years. You can consent on form IMM 5768 and let IRCC get the figures straight from the CRA, or send paper copies with form IMM 5748. The income page does not say which figure on the notice IRCC reads, so we do not guess at one.

Can I apply to sponsor my parents right now?

Not on demand. IRCC invites people to apply from the interest to sponsor pool, usually once a year. When we checked this page on 12 September 2026 the program was paused, with no new applications and no new interest to sponsor forms accepted.

What can I do if my income is too low?

You have three realistic options. Ask your spouse or common-law partner to co-sign so your incomes combine, wait until three stronger tax years are behind you, or look at the super visa, which lets a parent or grandparent visit for five years at a time. The super visa has its own income test and needs private medical insurance.

Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Income Calculator

Check whether your income is high enough to sponsor your parents or grandparents. Enter what you earned in each of the three tax years before you apply, and how many people you were responsible for each year. You get the minimum IRCC asks for, and a pass or fail for every year.

You meet all three years3 of 3 yearsYour income clears the minimum in 2024, 2023 and 2022, using the family sizes you entered and IRCC's table for the 2025 intake. Your smallest margin is $5,694, in 2022. A family size one person larger in that year would raise the bar by $9,324.

Tax year	Your income	Minimum needed	Result
2024 (4 people)	$80,000	$70,972	Meets it, by $9,028
2023 (4 people)	$74,000	$66,466	Meets it, by $7,534
2022 (4 people)	$70,000	$64,306	Meets it, by $5,694

Years you meet, of the 3 that count	3 of 3
Table used: IRCC minimum necessary income, 2025 intake	2024, 2023, 2022

If you live in Quebec. Quebec sets its own income requirement for sponsors, so this table does not apply to you. Quebec's own figures are here. Everything else on this page is the federal rule.

You cannot apply whenever you like. IRCC invites sponsors to apply from the interest to sponsor pool. When we checked on 12 September 2026 the program was paused, so no applications and no new interest to sponsor forms were being accepted. Existing applications were still being processed. These figures are the 2025 intake, the most recent table IRCC has published.

Show the math

The requirement is a minimum, so income equal to the figure passes. You must meet it in each of the three tax years before the date you apply, which for the 2025 intake are 2024, 2023 and 2022. Missing one year fails the test even if the other two are comfortable.

Family size is counted separately for each year. Count each person from the year they became part of your family. It includes you, your spouse or common-law partner, your dependent children and theirs, anyone you already sponsored whose undertaking is still in effect, the parent or grandparent you want to sponsor, and that person's spouse and dependent children. The sponsored person's family members count even when they are not coming to Canada.

IRCC publishes figures for families of 2 to 7. Above 7 people, each extra person adds $10,291 for 2024, $9,636 for 2023 and $9,324 for 2022. This tool adds them the same way.

Not modelled: Quebec's own requirement, whether the person you want to sponsor is eligible, and anything that can make you ineligible to sponsor, such as an undischarged bankruptcy or a default on an earlier undertaking. IRCC does not say on its income page how the amounts are set, or which figure on a notice of assessment it reads, so neither is stated here.

How the income test works

IRCC publishes one table of minimum incomes, called the minimum necessary income. You have to reach the figure in each of the three tax years before the date you apply. The three years move with the intake. The table on this page is the one IRCC published for the 2025 intake, which covers the 2024, 2023 and 2022 tax years.

The figure you need depends on your family size, and family size is counted year by year. You count each person from the year they joined your family. A child born in 2024 raises the bar for 2024 only, not for the two years before.

Your family size is bigger than the people living in your home. It includes the parent or grandparent you are sponsoring and that person’s own dependants, even the ones staying abroad. A single parent with no dependants is one extra person. Two parents with no dependants are two.

The requirement is a minimum, so income that lands exactly on the figure passes. A dollar below it does not.

Worked example

You are sponsoring both of your parents, who have no dependants. You are married with one child, and a second child was born in 2024. So your family size is 5 people for 2023 and 2022, and 6 people for 2024.

Tax year	Family size	Your income	Minimum needed	Result
2024	6	$88,000	$90,784	$2,784 short
2023	5	$78,000	$75,384	Meets it by $2,616
2022	5	$74,000	$72,935	Meets it by $1,065

You meet 2 of the three years, so the application fails on 2024. The gap is $2,784, and it opened because the new baby pushed your 2024 family size to 6 people. Your raise that year was real, but it was smaller than the jump in the requirement.

Two things could fix this, on these numbers. A co-signing spouse with any income at all would close a gap that small, as long as the co-signer was already counted in the family size. Waiting a year also works, because a stronger set of three tax years replaces the weak one.

Assumptions

The figures are IRCC’s table for the 2025 intake, the most recent table published as at 12 September 2026. If IRCC publishes a newer table for a later intake, the years and the amounts will both change.
Family sizes above seven use IRCC’s per-person addition on top of the seven-person figure.
Income is whatever the CRA assessed for that year. The income page does not name a figure on the notice of assessment, so this tool does not either.
Quebec is not modelled. Quebec sponsors have their own income requirement and their own undertaking.
Meeting the income test is one requirement among several. This tool does not check whether you can sponsor at all, and it does not check whether the person you want to sponsor is eligible.
There is no check here on timing. IRCC invites sponsors from the interest to sponsor pool, and the program was paused when this page was last reviewed.

Common questions

Frequently asked questions

How much income do I need to sponsor my parents to Canada?: It depends on your family size and on the year. For the 2025 intake a family of four needed $70,972 in 2024, $66,466 in 2023 and $64,306 in 2022. Every extra person past seven adds about ten thousand dollars a year. Enter your own numbers above to see your figure.
Do I have to meet the income requirement for all three years?: Yes. You must meet it in each of the three tax years before the date you apply. A strong year does not make up for a weak one. One year below the minimum is enough for IRCC to refuse the application.
Who counts in my family size for parent sponsorship?: Count yourself, your spouse or common-law partner, your dependent children and their children, and anyone you already sponsored whose undertaking is still running. Then add the parent or grandparent you are sponsoring, that person's spouse or partner, and their dependent children. All of them count even if they are not coming to Canada.
Can my spouse's income count toward the sponsorship requirement?: Yes, if your spouse or common-law partner co-signs the application. Their income is added to yours for all three years. A co-signer also counts in your family size for all three years, so the minimum you need goes up at the same time.
What if I live in Quebec?: Quebec sets its own income requirement for sponsors, so the federal table does not answer your question. Check the Quebec government page for the figures that apply to you. The rest of the federal process, including the three-year test, still applies.
What income does IRCC look at?: Your notice of assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency for each of the three tax years. You can consent on form IMM 5768 and let IRCC get the figures straight from the CRA, or send paper copies with form IMM 5748. The income page does not say which figure on the notice IRCC reads, so we do not guess at one.
Can I apply to sponsor my parents right now?: Not on demand. IRCC invites people to apply from the interest to sponsor pool, usually once a year. When we checked this page on 12 September 2026 the program was paused, with no new applications and no new interest to sponsor forms accepted.
What can I do if my income is too low?: You have three realistic options. Ask your spouse or common-law partner to co-sign so your incomes combine, wait until three stronger tax years are behind you, or look at the super visa, which lets a parent or grandparent visit for five years at a time. The super visa has its own income test and needs private medical insurance.

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from one of these primary sources. Data last verified September 7, 2026.

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Data verified for tax year 2026: September 7, 2026 Updated September 12, 2026 By Nishant Malik, founder of GlassLayer