How Long Is Common Law in Ontario? Time Rules by Law

The question most people ask is simple: how long do we have to live together before we are common-law? In Ontario, the answer changes depending on whether you mean family support, taxes, immigration or a government benefit.

This article gives the time rules law by law, including the situations where a child removes the waiting period. Because the details can turn on your facts, confirm your own situation with a lawyer or accountant.

Spousal support: three years, or a child

For support under the Family Law Act, two unmarried people are spouses if they have cohabited continuously for not less than three years. There is an exception: unmarried partners are also spouses for support purposes, however long they lived together, if they cohabited in a relationship of some permanence and are the parents of a child as set out in the Children's Law Reform Act.

Ontario's guidance puts it the same way: you may be entitled to spousal support if you were married, lived together as a couple for at least three years, or were in a relationship of some permanence and had a child together. The length of time you lived together is also one thing a court considers when setting the amount of support.

Tax and benefits: 12 months, with short separations counted

For federal income tax, a common-law partner is someone who cohabits with you in a conjugal relationship and has done so throughout the 12-month period ending at that time. If you share a child, a cohabiting conjugal partner who is a parent of your child counts even before 12 months.

Short breaks do not necessarily restart the clock. Once partners cohabit, they are deemed to keep cohabiting unless they have lived separate and apart for at least 90 days because the relationship broke down, and the 12 months include any separation of less than 90 days. When you do separate, the separation must last at least 90 days, and the separated status then takes effect from the day you started living apart.

You must tell the CRA about a new marital status by the end of the month after the change, through its digital services or on Form RC65, Marital Status Change.

Immigration: one year

Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, a common-law partner is someone cohabiting with the person in a conjugal relationship for at least one year. IRCC's sponsorship guide says you can sponsor a common-law partner if you live, or have lived, with them for at least 12 consecutive months in a marriage-like relationship.

There are exceptions. Someone in a conjugal relationship for at least one year who cannot cohabit because of persecution or any form of penal control is considered a common-law partner. A couple who cannot meet the cohabitation requirement may be sponsored as conjugal partners if they have been in a conjugal relationship for at least one year and marriage or living together was not possible.

Benefits, estates and property

Benefit programs use shorter periods. Under ODSP, one test is that two people have lived in the same dwelling for at least three months and their social and financial ties are consistent with cohabitation. Ontario Works also has its own test for when people who live together are treated as spouses, and how it applies depends on your situation, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer. These are separate programs with different tests.

On death, a common-law spouse does not inherit under the Succession Law Reform Act if there is no will. However, for dependant support claims against an estate, "spouse" includes unmarried partners who cohabited for three years or had a child in a relationship of some permanence.

For property, time does not help. Ontario does not divide property between common-law couples when they separate, and each partner keeps the property they bought. There is an exception: a common-law partner who contributed to property the other owns may have a right to part of it, and unless the owner agrees to pay the contribution back, the partner may have to go to court.

What to do next

• Decide which law matters for your question before counting the time.
• Write out your move-in date and any periods you lived apart, including how long each lasted.
• Keep proof of a shared address, such as leases, utility bills and ID.
• If you have a child together, note it, because the waiting period can shorten or disappear.
• Ask a lawyer or accountant to confirm how the dates apply to your situation.

Frequently asked questions