The super visa letter of invitation: what your host has to write, and who can sign it

Companion to the super visa insurance, host-income, and document-translation explainers.

Every super visa application rests on a letter from the family member in Canada who is inviting the parent or grandparent to visit. The letter of invitation is a common place for applications to lose time — not because the host doesn’t qualify, but because the letter leaves out something IRCC treats as mandatory. It is a document with a required contents list, and it is worth building from that list rather than writing it freehand. Here is what has to be in it.

Who writes and signs the letter

The letter comes from the host, not the applicant. IRCC’s instruction is that it is “Your letter of invitation, written and signed by your host child or grandchild, must include” the required elements below. The person inviting you — your child or grandchild living in Canada — is the author and signatory. This is the same person whose income is being tested against the minimum necessary income requirement covered in our host-income explainer.

What the letter must contain

The letter has to do more than extend an invitation. Two pieces of substance are required. First, it must show “proof that they meet or exceed the minimum necessary income” — the income test is not a separate form the host files quietly; it is stated and evidenced in the invitation itself. Second, it must set out “the list and number of people included when your child or grandchild calculated their family size to determine the minimum necessary income.” Family size drives the income threshold, so IRCC wants to see exactly who was counted.

And the detail that is easiest to skip: “The letter must also include the name and date of birth of each person.” Each person counted in the family-size calculation is named with a date of birth. A letter that gives a number but not the names behind it is incomplete.

When someone else can co-sign

Hosts sometimes ask whether a spouse’s income can be added to clear the threshold. It can, but only from one specific person. IRCC allows that “Your child or grandchild’s spouse or common-law partner can co-sign the letter if they’re a Canadian citizen, permanent resident of Canada or registered Indian. Other family members of your host, such as siblings, can’t co-sign.” So a daughter-in-law or son-in-law who is a citizen or permanent resident may co-sign and contribute income; a sibling, cousin, or friend cannot, no matter how willing. If you are relying on combined income, confirm the co-signer’s status first — it is the eligibility gate on that whole strategy.

If you use an immigration representative

Many newcomer families ask whether they need to hire a consultant to prepare all this. IRCC is explicit that you don’t: “You’re not required to hire a representative. We treat everyone equally, whether they use the service of a representative or not.” If you do choose to use one, the paperwork changes slightly — “You must also fill out the Use of a Representative (IMM 5476) form.” The point worth passing on is that hiring help is a choice, not a requirement, and it does not change how the application is assessed.

How this fits the rest of the file

The letter of invitation sits at the centre of the super visa document set, tying together the host’s income and family size, the applicant’s insurance policy, and any translated documents. Treat it as a checklist rather than a note: author and signature (the host), the income proof, the family-size list with every name and date of birth, and — if it applies — a qualifying co-signer. Get those right and the letter stops being the thing that sends the file back.