Does having family already living permanently in Canada make dual intent harder to establish?

It can make the practical assessment harder, though not because dual intent stops applying. Having immediate family already living permanently in Canada is one factor an officer may reasonably weigh when assessing whether an applicant is likely to genuinely leave at the end of an authorized temporary stay, since strong family ties in Canada can be seen as reducing the pull back toward the applicant's home country compared to someone with no close family here at all.

This does not override dual intent itself; an officer still cannot refuse purely because the applicant wants to immigrate eventually, and having family in Canada does not, on its own, prove an intention not to comply with temporary status. It is simply one relevant fact among several that gets weighed together with ties abroad, travel history, and the applicant's own explanation of their plans.

Anyone in this situation should be prepared to address the family connection directly and honestly, rather than avoiding the topic, and to focus on building a credible, complete picture of their overall circumstances and compliance intentions.