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Adrienne Smith
September 24, 2026 at 12:00pm EST
$90
3 hours
Attend Live Online and On-Demand Recording
This course provides a comprehensive overview of family sponsorship under Canadian immigration law, guiding practitioners through the full range of options for sponsoring spouses, partners, children, parents, grandparents, and other eligible relatives. Participants will learn how to assess sponsorable relationships, choose between in-Canada and overseas processes, and advise on temporary residence options while permanent residence is pursued. The course also addresses key evidentiary requirements for proving genuine relationships, financial and medical considerations, inadmissibility issues, and the use of humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Appeals before the Immigration Appeal Division and Federal Court are also explored, along with ethical considerations unique to sponsorship files. This session equips practitioners to select the right strategy, avoid common pitfalls, and manage family sponsorship files confidently from start to finish.
• R1 of IRPR
• Definitions of common-law versus conjugal
• Adopted children
• Other relatives (i.e. “lonely Canadian”) option
• Super Visas for parents/grandparents
• Visitor visas for spouses and children
• Requirements
• Income requirements
• Who can’t sponsor
• Tips for avoiding returned applications
• How to gather information from applicants
• Document “must haves”
• IRCC operational guidance
• Case law
• Adverse immigration history
• Length of relationship
• Case law
• S. 25 of IRPA
• Criminal inadmissibility
• Other relatives
• New threshold
• Case law
• Category update
• What to do if you don’t get in the lottery
• Application tips
• S.117(9)(d)
• Public policy to exempt the application of s.117(9)(d)
• What to do if the applicant doesn’t meet the public policy requirements
• When to expect acknowledge of receipt
• When to expect other correspondence
• When to file the work permit
• Health care before PR
• When to file an extension of temporary status
• Income requirements
• Undertaking
• When is financial inadmissibility an issue
• Duty of candour
• Misrepresentation
• Competence of counsel
• Relevant case law
• Right of appeal
• Arguments
• Case law
• Rights during appeal process
• Joint retainers
• Opposing client instructions
• Competence of counsel
• Preparing your client to re-enter Canada
• Temporary breaks in cohabitation
• Vacation and leisure travel
• Travelling before the PR card is received
• PRTD applications
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B.A., M.A., J.D.
Principal Lawyer, Smith Immigration Law
Adrienne has a full-service legal practice with expertise in litigation and administrative appeals. Adrienne’s firm website can be found here. Her legal experience is concentrated in matters before Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the Federal Court and the Immigration and Refugee Board.
She regularly represents clients with all types of permanent and temporary applications to Canada, including medical and criminal inadmissibility issues, sponsorship applications and appeals, refugee claims and appeals, Federal Court applications, humanitarian and compassionate applications, study and visitor visas, and detention reviews.
Adrienne has been invited as an expert to speak on medical inadmissibility before Canada’s House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, which monitor’s federal immigration policies.
She is an Instructor with Ryerson’s Faculty of Law and the University of British Columbia’s Continuing Education Program. Adrienne has been invited to speak as a guest lecturer at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law and York University’s Centre for Refugee Studies.
Have questions? We’re here to help. Check out our FAQs to learn more about this Course.
Absolutely. Every LPEN course is recorded, and the recording is added to your account within a few business days. You can log in anytime to watch it on demand and still receive your digital certificate of completion.
LPEN seeks accreditation for each course from the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) and the Law Society of Ontario (LSO),the Law Society of BC (LSBC) when applicable. Accreditation details and approved CPD hours are listed in the CPD Credits section on each course page, so you can easily confirm how the course qualifies toward your professional development requirements.
A digital certificate of completion will be available once the course recording has been uploaded. After that, you can follow the steps at the top of your My Courses page—where you’ll also find a short video explaining how to download your certificate. Be sure to save it as part of your documentation for your CPD hours.
This course may be included in one or several LPEN Passes. Passes offer discounted rates and access to multiple courses, making CPD compliance simpler. Check out our Passes page to see where it is included.
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