Photo by Stephanie Lamy

Many Canadians may prefer to live common-law, but falling in love internationally will test the longevity of a relationship.

According to Statistics Canada data, there has been a growing trend over the last 30 years in the number of couples choosing common-law domestic arrangements in favour of marriage. Currently in British Columbia, there are over 165,000 common-law couples: a number which continues to grow at a rate three times faster than for married couples in the province. Nationally, the number of common-law partnerships is growing four times faster than marriage.

An imperfect system

While B.C. has taken strides to give common-law couples equal legal footing with married couples, the application process for Canadian citizens sponsoring their common-law partner for immigration is not without its difficulties. Jennifer Porter, 29, originally from Regina, has been through the process with her English partner.

“Sponsoring my boyfriend was the most stressful point of our relationship. We’d been together almost seven months by the time his working tourist visa was due to expire. We didn’t [at that time] meet the specifications required for me to sponsor him to stay, so I moved back to the U.K. with him,” says Porter.

“When we decided to come back [to Canada], we had to provide endless amounts of evidence that we were a [legitimate] couple including bank statements, photographs, letters from our friends and relatives swearing that we were a couple,” adds Porter.

Rules of love

On March 18 last year, British Columbia updated the Family Relations Act with new legislation addressing the legal responsibilities and entitlements of common-law couples who have lived together for a period of at least two years. The Family Law Act was introduced and under the updated legislation, couples who have resided together for a period of two years or more now have the same rights as married couples. This includes a 50-50 division of both assets and any debts incurred during the course of the relationship.

“The Family Relations Act was about thirty-four years old, so it was a very different era in society; so when the new law came in, one of the things that changed was that cohabiting couples had the same rights to dividing assets and debts as married couples. The Family Law Act is more reflective of the society we live in today,” says B.C. family lawyer Grace Choi.

Some exclusions do apply. Property acquired before or after the relationship, gifts and inheritances, damage awards and insurance payouts, as well as certain kinds of trusts are all protected under the new legislation.

“The new act is basically structured so if you had it before you were living together, it’s yours. It’s only the assets that were acquired during the course of the relationship that are shared,” says Choi.

In keeping with updates in legislation, on Oct. 25, 2013, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) introduced amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. Under current legislation, the government will allow citizens or permanent residents to sponsor their common-law partners the same as spouses would be able to be sponsored, if they are able to meet certain criteria.

This criteria stipulates the couple must have been in a conjugal relationship for a period of two years, have cohabited for two years or have a child in common. If the couple do not meet any of these requirements, they are still able to apply for sponsorship but the sponsored party’s residency will have a condition attached stipulating they must remain in a conjugal relationship with their sponsor for a period of two years from the date their residency was granted.

Additionally, couples who only receive conditional residency must provide substantial evidence supporting the legitimacy of their relationship, such as joint bank accounts or owning or renting property together.

Sponsors must agree to certain criteria in order for their partner’s residency to be approved and sign a contract with the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration wherein they agree to provide financial support for necessary requirements such as health care, food, shelter, utilities, clothing and household needs.

Under this conditional residency, should both parties decide to separate within two years of the application being approved, the sponsored party’s residency and eligibility to remain in the country is liable to be revoked.

“Under current immigration law and policy, a change in marital circumstances such as a separation constitutes a ‘material change of circumstance’ which must be reported to immigration authorities immediately. In the case of the sponsorship of a common-law partner, this normally would be deemed a ‘material change of circumstance’. If a person is separated as a common-law partner, they can no longer be sponsored as such,” says B.C. immigration lawyer, Richard Kurland.

Any separations after this time period are unaffected.

“I was unable to work while our application was pending which created a lot of tension between me and my boyfriend. I couldn’t contribute to our outgoings, and I was bored without having a job. Eventually, I moved back to Seattle until my visa was granted,” says Jason Shaw, 27, a U.S. citizen currently living in Whistler and eleven months into his conditional permanent residency status.

One prevalent issue noted in the online forums is the sheer amount of confusion amongst couples who are looking to begin sponsorship proceedings. CIC and other immigration online forums indicate that a lot of people don’t feel as though they have enough information about where they stand.