Article content

By Tobi Cohen

OTTAWA — The federal government is introducing a five-year sponsorship bar to crack down on bogus marriages of convenience.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Tories announce crackdown on bogus marriages with five-year wait time for new spouses Back to video

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced Friday that starting immediately, spouses will have to wait five years from the day they are granted permanent residence status in Canada before they can sponsor a new spouse.

The move is meant to prevent people from fraudulently marrying Canadians for the purposes of immigration only to leave them and then sponsor a new partner while their Canadian spouse is still financially responsible for them for three years.

[np-related]

“I held town hall meetings across the country to hear from victims of marriage fraud,” said Kenney, who made the announcement in Brampton, Ont., just west of Toronto.

“In addition to the heartbreak and pain that came from being lied to and deceived, these people were angry. They felt they had been used as a way to get to Canada. We’re taking action because immigration to Canada should not be built upon deceit.”