The exemption letting eligible PRs sponsor family members they didn't declare on their original application closes to new applications on September 10, 2026.
If you're a permanent resident who didn't declare a spouse, partner, or child on the application that brought you to Canada, the exemption that's let some people fix that mistake is about to close. IRCC stops accepting new applications under its public policy for undeclared family members on September 10, 2026. Miss it, and a lifetime ban on sponsoring that person snaps back into force the next day.
Under Canada's immigration regulations, anyone applying for PR has to declare every family member at the time of the application — spouse, common-law partner, dependent children — even the ones not travelling with them. Declared family members still have to pass medical, background, and security checks before the application can be approved.
Fail to declare someone, and paragraphs 117(9)(d) and 125(1)(d) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations impose a permanent, lifetime ban on ever sponsoring that person through the family class. Not a delay — a ban, full stop, regardless of how long ago the original application was filed or how the omission happened.
IRCC has been running a temporary exemption from that ban since 2019, through three consecutive public policies:
| Policy period | Started | Notes |
|---|
| Original pilot | September 9, 2019 | First exemption introduced |
| Second policy | September 2021 | Extended through the pandemic |
| Current (third) policy | September 10, 2023 | Signed by then-Minister Marc Miller |
The current policy covers any application IRCC received between May 31, 2019 and September 10, 2026 — the full span of all three versions combined. After that date, there's no confirmed plan for a fourth extension.
The policy isn't open to everyone who left a family member off their original application. The undeclared person has to be applying as a spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, or dependent child, and the sponsor has to have gotten their own PR through one of four specific routes:
- Resettled as a Convention refugee or in similar circumstances
- Granted PR after being found a protected person through Canada's asylum system
- Sponsored themselves as a spouse, partner, or dependent child under the family class
- Came to Canada as a sponsored spouse or common-law partner
IRCC picked these categories because sponsors in them typically weren't screened for income or "excessive demand" on health and social services — meaning the undeclared family member's existence usually wouldn't have changed whether the original application succeeded.
That last point is also where the policy draws its hard line: if declaring the person would have made you ineligible for the program you used — for example, you arrived as someone's spouse but were actually already married to or living with the undeclared person at the time, or you came in on a program that required you to be single with no dependents — this exemption doesn't apply to you.
There's no separate form or special stream for this. You apply through the normal spousal, partner, or child sponsorship process, online through the Permanent Residence Portal, and an IRCC officer determines whether the public policy exemption applies while processing your file. Standard sponsorship fees apply, including the Right of Permanent Residence Fee (which rose to $600 for applicants who owe it, as of the April 2026 fee increase). Sponsors in Quebec still need a separate provincial undertaking — this federal policy doesn't touch that requirement.
The one thing that matters above everything else: IRCC has to receive your application by September 10, 2026. Not postmarked, not started — received.
Good news if your application is already in the queue: you don't need to do anything. IRCC has confirmed that any sponsorship application received before the deadline will be processed under the public policy, even if the decision comes back well after September 10. Given that spousal sponsorship outside Quebec is currently running about 17 months for outland applications and 27 months for inland ones, most people who apply now won't hear back until 2028 — and that's fine. The receipt date is what locks in the exemption, not the decision date.
There's also a second chance built in: if you applied to sponsor an undeclared family member before the original policy started on May 31, 2019, and were refused, you can submit a new application under the current policy — but it still has to reach IRCC by the same September 10 deadline.
Tip
If you're not certain your situation fits the eligibility categories — particularly the exclusion around being secretly married or partnered at the time of your own application — get that confirmed before you file, not after. An ineligible application can be returned incomplete, and with three weeks left as of this writing, there may not be time to fix and resubmit before the window closes.
IRCC has said it used this policy period to collect data on who relies on the exemption, partly to inform whether the underlying regulation should change permanently. If the department decides a regulatory amendment is warranted, the lifetime bar could eventually be softened or removed outright. But absent that — and absent a fourth consecutive public policy, which hasn't been confirmed — paragraphs 117(9)(d) and 125(1)(d) go back to applying in full on September 11, 2026. IRCC's policy documents also note the exemption could be cancelled before the scheduled end date, so treat September 10 as the real deadline, not a soft target.
If you have an undeclared spouse, partner, or child and you qualify under one of the four sponsor categories above: file now. A complete, eligible application received by September 10 keeps your options open even if IRCC doesn't decide it for years.
If you're not sure whether you qualify: don't guess. The eligibility rules and exclusions are specific enough that a wrong assumption could cost you your only shot at this. A regulated Canadian immigration consultant or lawyer can confirm your situation quickly.
If your family member doesn't fit these categories — for instance, you got PR through Express Entry or another economic program — this exemption was never available to you, and nothing about the September deadline changes that. The lifetime ban has applied to your situation the whole time this policy has existed.
Thinking through your family's next move? Spousal Sponsorship Guide | PR Application Document Checklist
Disclaimer: This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute immigration advice. Always verify information with official IRCC sources and consult a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) or licensed immigration lawyer for advice specific to your situation.