Common-Law Partner Immigration to Canada: Who Qualifies in Ontario

If you live with your partner in Ontario and want to bring them to Canada, or stay together here, the first question is whether your relationship fits the federal definition of a common-law partner. That definition comes from federal immigration rules, not from Ontario family law, so the tests you may have heard about for support or property do not apply.

This article explains the core definition, how IRCC views time apart, and how the immigration test differs from the family law and tax tests. It does not walk through the sponsorship application itself, which follows IRCC's own forms and instructions.

The federal definition

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations define a common-law partner as someone who has cohabited with the person in a conjugal relationship for at least one year. Ontario's Family Law Act uses similar wording in its own definition, under which to cohabit means to live together in a conjugal relationship, whether the couple is married or not. That is an Ontario family law definition, so it does not set the immigration test. How the word conjugal applies to your relationship depends on your situation, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer.

IRCC states that the partner must have lived with you for at least 12 consecutive months without long periods apart.

Time apart and the continuous requirement

Short, temporary absences for family obligations or work or business travel are acceptable. A long stretch apart is the concern, because the requirement is continuous living together.

There is an exception for couples who are in a conjugal relationship for at least one year but cannot live together because of persecution or any form of penal control. They are considered common-law partners.

• Twelve months of living together as a couple is the baseline.
• Brief trips for work, business or family duties do not break the period.
• Long periods apart can cause problems.
• Persecution or penal control can excuse the inability to live together.

What counts as a short absence and what counts as a long one is not something a general article can settle for you. If your time together has gaps, it is worth explaining each one clearly and confirming with a lawyer how it is likely to be viewed.

How this differs from family law and tax tests

A person can meet one definition and not another. The one-year immigration test is shorter than the Ontario support test, which generally asks for three years of continuous cohabitation or a relationship of some permanence with a child together.

Notice that the immigration and tax tests are not identical, even though both involve about a year. Tax law, for example, recognizes a person who is a parent of your child without the wait. The immigration definition quoted above is based on cohabitation.

Tax rules add their own wrinkle. Once a couple cohabits, they are deemed to keep cohabiting unless they live separate and apart for at least 90 days because of a breakdown of the relationship. You must also tell the CRA about a change in marital status by the end of the month after the change. Your tax status does not answer the immigration question, which turns on the definition in the immigration regulations.

• Workplace benefits: whether a partner can be added to health or dental coverage depends on the plan's own definition of spouse.
• Pensions: Ontario's Pension Benefits Act includes unmarried people living together in a conjugal relationship continuously for at least three years, or in a relationship of some permanence if they are the parents of a child.
• Dying without a will: a common-law partner does not inherit automatically under the intestacy rules.
• Property: common-law couples are not legally required to split property acquired while they lived together.

Sponsoring from Ontario

Sponsorship is a federal process, so living in Ontario does not change who qualifies as a common-law partner. What Ontario adds is the family law context: if the relationship later ends, support and property questions are decided under Ontario rules, which use different tests.

If either of you is still legally married to someone else, or if you have lived apart for stretches, the answer depends on the facts and on current IRCC guidance. Talk to a lawyer before you file, because a statement about your relationship made in an application can matter later.

What to do next

• Count the months you have lived together continuously and list any absences with reasons.
• Gather proof of shared living, such as a lease, bills, mail and bank records.
• Note any time apart for work, travel or family duties so you can explain it.
• Check IRCC's current instructions and forms before preparing an application.
• Speak with an immigration lawyer if there are gaps, other marriages or complicating facts.

Frequently asked questions