Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations — 117
Member 117 (1) A foreign national is a member of the family class if, with respect to a sponsor, the foreign national is (a) the sponsor’s spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner; (b) a dependent child of the sponsor; (c) the sponsor’s mother or father; (d) the mother or father of the sponsor’s mother or father; (e) [Repealed, SOR/2005-61, s. 3] (f) a person whose parents are deceased, who is under 18 years of age, who is not a spouse or common-law partner and who is (i) a child of the sponsor’s mother or father, (ii) a child of a child of the sponsor’s mother or father, or (iii) a child of the sponsor’s child; (g) a person under 18 years of age whom the sponsor intends to adopt in Canada if (i) the adoption is not being entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring any status or privilege under the Act, (ii) where the adoption is an international adoption, the country in which the person resides is a party to the Hague Convention on Adoption and the Convention applies to their province of intended destination, the competent authority of the country and of the province have approved the adoption in writing as conforming to that Convention, and (iii) where the adoption is an international adoption and the country in which the person resides is not a party to the Hague Convention on Adoption or the Convention does not apply to the person’s province of intended destination (A) the person has been placed for adoption in the country in which they reside or is otherwise legally available in that country for adoption and there is no evidence that the intended adoption is for the purpose of child trafficking or undue gain within the meaning of the Hague Convention on Adoption, and (B) the competent authority of the person’s province of intended destination has stated in writing that it does not object to the adoption; or (h) a relative of the sponsor, regardless of age, if the sponsor does not have a spouse, a common-law partner, a conjugal partner, a child, a mother or father, a relative who is a child of that mother or father, a relative who is a child of a child of that mother or father, a mother or father of that mother or father or a relative who is a child of the mother or father of that mother or father (i) who is a Canadian citizen, Indian or permanent resident, or (ii) whose application to enter and remain in Canada as a permanent resident the sponsor may otherwise sponsor. Adoption — under 18 (2) A foreign national who is the adopted child of a sponsor and whose adoption took place when the child was under the age of 18 shall not be considered a member of the family class by virtue of the adoption unless (a) the adoption was in the best interests of the child within the meaning of the Hague Convention on Adoption; and (b) the adoption was not entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring any status or privilege under the Act. Best interests of the child (3) The adoption referred to in subsection (2) is considered to be in the best interests of a child if it took place under the following circumstances: (a) a competent authority has conducted or approved a home study of the adoptive parents; (b) before the adoption, the child’s parents gave their free and informed consent to the child’s adoption; (c) the adoption created a genuine parent-child relationship; (d) the adoption was in accordance with the laws of the place where the adoption took place; (e) the adoption was in accordance with the laws of the sponsor’s place of residence and, if the sponsor resided in Canada at the time the adoption took place, the competent authority of the child’s province of intended destination has stated in writing that it does not object to the adoption; (f) if the adoption is an international adoption, the country in which the adoption took place is a party to the Hague Convention on Adoption and the Convention applies to the child’s province of intended destination, the competent authority of the country and of the provin