Receiving EI when planning to sponsor parents

[f_m_khan]

Hi there, I am interested in sponsoring my parents for Canadian immigration. I am eligible financially as my last 4 years NOA income is more then the required amount to sponsor. Unfortunately I have been laid-off last month and wondering if taking EI would affect my eligibility of sponsoring my parents immigration? Please advise and possibly assist. Thanks in advance.

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hello There,

Thank you for sharing your situation and question with us.

Employment Insurance (EI) is not the same as social assistance, but it may affect your eligibility. EI is an accepted form of income in your financial evaluation if you received it for maternity, parental and sickness benefits.

Here is an excerpt from the IRCC Guide IMM 5482 – Instruction to fill the Financial Evaluation form (IMM 1283):

The Financial Evaluation form (IMM 1283) will help you assess if you (and your spouse or common-law partner, if he or she is co-signing the undertaking) will have the financial ability to support the persons you are planning to sponsor and their family members…
[…]
Question 12: Calculation of income based on the “Notice of Assessment”
[…]

12.B: Enter all of the following payments that were included in the amount at line 150 of your Notice of Assessment, add them up and print the total:

• Provincial instruction or training allowance;
• Social assistance paid by a province;
• Guaranteed income supplement paid under the Old Age Security Act; and
• Employment insurance: maternity, parental and sickness benefits paid under the Employment Insurance Act are considered income. Other payments such as employment insurance and federal training allowances are not considered as income.

[…]
You cannot include provincial instruction and training allowances, social assistance, child tax benefits, guaranteed income supplement or employment insurance payments.

It is best that you contact the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Call Centre directly to see if they have any information they can provide you.

You can contact them at:

1-888-242-2100 (In Canada Only)

You can also submit a case-specific enquiry:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/contacts/web-form.asp

You may also find the information in the Settlement.Org article How do I sponsor parents, grandparents, adopted children and other relatives? useful. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to post them here.

We hope this information is helpful.

Settlement.Org Team