What counts as income for sponsoring my parents and grandparents?

To find out if you have enough income to be eligible to sponsor your parents or grandparents, we

• use your total income on line 15000 of your Notice of Assessment (NOA) from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and
• subtract any income that must be excluded:
  • provincial or territorial allowances for an instruction or training program (such as taxable scholarships, bursaries, or fellowships if included on line 13000 of the NOA)
  • social assistance from a province or territory
  • payments from the Government of Canada under a resettlement assistance program
  • regular Employment Insurance earnings (except for the 2021 tax year)
  • Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement payments

If you live outside of Quebec, you must meet the income requirement for each of the 3 tax years before the year you apply.

If you live in Quebec, the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration will assess your income.

Income sources that count toward your total income

These income sources will count toward your total income (as long as they’re reported on your NOA):

• Employment Insurance special benefits, such as maternity and parental benefits
• any Employment Insurance earnings for the 2021 tax year only
• Canada Emergency Response Benefit
• other temporary COVID-19-related benefits
  • as long as they’re not part of provincial or territorial social assistance programs

How to get your NOAs

If you don’t have paper copies of your NOAs, you can view and print your tax returns using the CRA’s My Account online service. The easiest way to prove your income is to give us permission to get your NOAs directly from the CRA.