Until recently, the federal spousal sponsorship programme required that if someone was sponsored as a commonlaw, conjugal partner or spouse of a Canadian, the applicant for PR was granted a 'conditional permanent residence'. That meant that they had to live with their sponsor for two years after their PR was granted. If they did not, their PR could be revoked. There was an exception for couples who had a child together, or who had already lived together for two years.
The conditional PR has been revoked. The announcement says that applicants will now get regular PR. Any investigations into people who have allegedly were not meeting that condition will not proceed.
The federal government announced today that as of October 24, 2017, applicants for permanent residence will be able to bring any children who are under 22 as dependents when they apply for permanent residence.
This will impact our clients who are applying to sponsor their partners for permanent residence. The age limit used to be 22 but the Conservatives reduced it to 19.
Unfortunately the new rules will not apply to applications already submitted. A person whose application to sponsor a partner could, under the new rules, extend to a child of their partner should discuss the question of whether it would be possible to get their kid in.