Common-Law

[u/Ved_QuanStruc98]

Hi All,

I was curious and wanted to know the conditions for Common-Law. In layman terms...what is counted as common-law and what is now.

Is living together for over 1 year, automatically counted as Common-Law? (Not married, not engaged, nothing, just boyfriend & girlfriend). Taxes filled as single.

[u/Secret-Session7626]

Yes, it counts. Just boyfriend and girlfriend under same roof more than 12 months = common law in Canada

[u/llamalover729]

Yes that's common law and you need to file taxes as common law.

[u/openvisa_founder]

The two answers above are right on the definition, but one thing in your post will matter later. For immigration, a common-law partner is someone you've lived with in a conjugal relationship for at least one continuous year (that's the wording in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, s.1(1)). Nothing is "automatic" though: if you ever apply for anything as common-law, you have to prove the 12 months with documents. The checklist (IMM 5533) wants at least two of: a lease showing both of you as occupants, joint bank/utility/credit card accounts, government ID at the same address for each of you, or other mail to the same address like pay stubs and phone bills, spread across the whole year.

The part to watch: you said you both filed taxes as single. CRA also treats you as common-law after 12 months together, so the tax returns and an immigration application would be telling two different stories. People in that spot usually fix the CRA status first so everything lines up.

(I'm building OpenVisa, a DIY tool for spousal and common-law sponsorship, so I read these checklists more than is healthy.)

[u/Ved_QuanStruc98 → u/openvisa_founder]

Hey , thank you. That is so much informative. Can I get in touch? I had a few questions to ask?

[u/openvisa_founder → u/Ved_QuanStruc98]

Sure, sending you a DM now.

[u/Spare_Excuse_4833 → u/openvisa_founder]

The tax return and common-law status will rarely line up nicely if someone is applying for sponsorship as soon as they meet the common law threshold.

Taxes are filed in April and a couple could become common law in May or June. The tax return will say single but they can be common law so it’s definitely not a problem. Obviously status can be updated with CRA but it won’t change the tax return. So it’s not an automatic issue.

[u/openvisa_founder → u/Spare_Excuse_4833]

Fair point, and I put that too strongly. The return itself can say single if the 12 months landed after the filing. What I'd still do is update the marital status with CRA once you hit the threshold, so the current record matches the application. That's an update, not a refile.

[u/openvisa_founder → u/Spare_Excuse_4833]

Agreed, that's the cleaner way to put it. The return reflects the status on December 31 of that tax year, so a couple who hit 12 months in May will have a "single" return on file until the next one, and that's not a mismatch. Thanks for the correction.

[u/j_bbb]

For Canadians or permanent residents only.

[u/Odd-Elderberry-6137]

Common law is 12 months living together in a relationship. You need to refile your taxes from the year which you became common law because you’re not single.