If you are a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident and you have a foreign spouse, you can apply to sponsor them to become a Permanent Resident in Canada.
Processing times on average are between 8 to 12 months, depending on the visa office responsible for processing the application.
Based on your circumstances, you can either apply for an “Outland” or “Inland” spousal sponsorship.
Outland Spousal Sponsorship : If your spouse lives outside of Canada, your application will be processed through the visa office in the sponsored spouse’s country of citizenship or where they legally reside.
Even if you and your Spouse/Common-law partner live in Canada, you can still apply under this category. The benefit of this is that applying under this category allow you to Appeal a refusal. This may be an important strategy in cases where chances of refusal are high.
If so, you can sponsor certain family members to become Canadian permanent residents: