Bringing Family to Canada
You may bring your spouse, common-law partner, and dependent children to Canada to be with you while you study. Your spouse or common-law partner will receive an Open Work Permit for the duration of your studies. The open work permit will allow your spouse or partner to work for any employer within Canada. If you have children, they can accompany you and go to school in Canada for free. If you come to Canada and start a family while you are studying, your children automatically become Canadian citizens if born in Canada. After graduating from a 2 year program, the student and spouse can both get a 3 year work permit to work in Canada.
Spouse/Common-law partner of Foreign Student
To be eligible for an Open Work Permit, the spouse or common-law partner of a foreign student must demonstrate that:
- The foreign student is studying full-time at a diploma/degree-granting, publicly-funded post-secondary educational facility; or
- The foreign student has graduated and is the holder of a valid work permit for a job related to his or her studies.
For spouses and common-law partners, open work permits are generally issued with a validity date that coincides with the period of time that their spouse is permitted to work or study in Canada, as the case may be.