If you are not a citizen or permanent resident
If you're in Canada on temporary status, waiting on sponsorship, or without status, the fear of being sent away can feel bigger than the abuse itself. You have rights here no matter your status, and you're allowed to ask for help. Abuse is against the law here, and being harmed by the person who sponsored you doesn't mean you have to leave the country. There are protections for exactly this, and people whose whole job is helping women like you. Take your time. Nothing here asks you to decide anything today.
What to know first
- Everyone in Canada is protected by the law, including people with no status. Police, shelters, hospitals, and crisis lines are for you too.
- Calling the police because you're being hurt doesn't automatically start a deportation. Police handle criminal matters, not immigration status, and most Canadian police services don't report survivors to immigration authorities.
- Your sponsor doesn't control your immigration status, can't cancel your permanent residence, and can't have you removed from Canada. They may say otherwise. It's not true.
- Children born in Canada are Canadian citizens from birth, no matter your status. That can't be taken from them or from you as their mother.
- You can speak to an immigration lawyer or settlement worker in confidence before doing anything else. Free options exist across the country.
- Language is never a barrier to help. Crisis lines and settlement agencies offer interpretation in dozens of languages, at no cost.
Reporting abuse and what it does not mean
Many women stay because a partner has said going to police will get them deported or take their children away. That threat is a form of control.
- Threatening deportation, hiding your passport, or telling you that you have no rights are themselves forms of abuse, and Canadian courts recognize this.
- Police respond to violence, not status. You don't have to explain your immigration situation to get help in an emergency.
- You can call a crisis line or settlement agency first, before police, if that feels safer. They'll walk through the options with you.
- You can ask for a support worker or interpreter to be with you when you speak to anyone official. This is normal and free.
- Victim services in every province help people regardless of status, including safety planning, court support, and financial help.
- If someone in authority tells you that you have no rights because of your status, that person is wrong. Ask a settlement agency or legal clinic to confirm.
If your status is tied to a sponsor
Spousal sponsorship can feel like a leash. In practice, the rules give you far more independence than most sponsors admit.
- If you already have permanent residence, it's yours. A sponsor can't withdraw it, and separating or divorcing doesn't take it away.
- A sponsor is financially responsible under their undertaking for the full three years, even if the relationship ends. That obligation stays with them.
- If you receive social assistance, it doesn't put your permanent residence at risk. It may create a debt for your sponsor, not for you.
- Canada removed the conditional permanent residence rule in 2017, so newer permanent residents no longer have to live with a sponsor to keep status.
- If your application is still in progress, tell a lawyer or settlement worker right away. There are ways to continue, including humanitarian grounds and applying on your own.
- If a sponsor withdraws an application, that's not the end of the road. Other pathways exist, and a legal clinic can explain which fit your situation.
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has a specific policy for people in vulnerable situations, including a temporary resident permit with a fee exemption, a work permit, and health coverage while you sort things out.
Immigration options that may be open to you
You don't have to know which of these is right. A free immigration legal clinic can look at your situation and tell you.
- A temporary resident permit for people in a vulnerable situation gives status, a work permit, and health coverage while you find your footing. Application fees are waived.
- Humanitarian and compassionate grounds is an application to stay in Canada based on your circumstances, including family violence, your establishment here, and the best interests of any children. Abuse is specifically considered.
- Refugee protection may apply if returning home would put you in danger, including danger because you left an abusive partner.
- A pre removal risk assessment can be requested if you've received a removal order and returning would be dangerous.
- If you're on a work permit tied to one employer and your partner is the employer or connected to them, an open work permit for vulnerable workers may be available.
- Deadlines matter more than being certain. If you've received any letter from immigration authorities, bring it to a legal clinic quickly, even if you don't understand it.
- Use a licensed lawyer, a regulated immigration consultant, or a free legal clinic. Anyone who promises a guaranteed result for cash isn't safe to trust.
Documents to try to gather
Photograph anything you can't keep, and store it in the Vault in this app or an email account only you can open. If your partner holds your papers, that's common, and there are ways to replace them.
- Passport, permanent resident card, work or study permit, visitor record, and any immigration document with your name on it.
- Any letter, receipt, or number from immigration authorities, including your unique client identifier if you have one.
- Your sponsorship application and the undertaking, if you can reach a copy, plus any correspondence about it.
- Marriage certificate, birth certificates for your children, and your own birth certificate.
- Proof you've been living in Canada, such as a lease, bills, bank statements, pay stubs, tax slips, school records, and medical records.
- Proof of the abuse, such as photos, messages, medical notes, police file numbers, or entries from the Incident Log in this app. These support a humanitarian application.
- If your partner has hidden or destroyed your documents, tell a settlement worker. Replacement copies can be requested, and withholding documents can itself be evidence of abuse.
Your children and your family
Worry about your children is often the loudest fear. Here's what the law actually says.
- A child born in Canada is a Canadian citizen from birth, regardless of your status or your partner's. No one can undo that.
- Being a mother to a Canadian child is one of the factors immigration considers in a humanitarian application, through the best interests of the child.
- Your status doesn't decide custody. Family courts look at the wellbeing of the child, and Canada's Divorce Act requires courts to consider family violence.
- Children in Canada have the right to attend school regardless of their immigration status or yours.
- Emergency medical care is available to everyone in Canada. Community health centres serve people without provincial coverage, often free.
- If your partner threatens to take your children out of the country, tell a lawyer or police right away. Court orders can prevent this quickly.
Organizations that work with immigrant and refugee women
Settlement agencies funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada are free, confidential, and available in most cities. Many have staff who share your language and have lived something similar.
- Settlement services don't report to immigration enforcement. Their role is to help you settle, including housing, income, and safety.
- Many shelters accept women regardless of immigration status, and provincial crisis lines can find one that does.
- Immigrant women's centres often run support groups in specific languages, helping with isolation as much as paperwork.
- Community legal clinics in most provinces offer free immigration and family law advice.
- Ask about interpretation when you first call. You should never have to bring your partner or their family to translate.
- You can ask any agency to keep your file confidential and avoid contacting you at home. They're used to this request.
Canadian resources
You may have been told for a long time that you have no options here. That was never true. One call to a settlement agency or legal clinic, in your own language, can start to change what feels possible. You belong here, and asking for help is your right.