• . for at least three years,

• have lived with someone else.
• . in a “relationship of some permanence” and.
• . have had a child together,

• have signed an adult interdependent partner agreement with someone else.

As a result of these definitions, and how they change depending on the legislation you’re looking at, people might qualify as “common-law partners” under the Canada Pension Plan but not as “spouses” under British Columbia’s Family Law Act, or they might qualify as “partners” under the Family Law Act of Newfoundland and Labrador but not as “adult interdependent partners” under Alberta’s Family Property Act.

I know that this is more than a little confusing, but what it boils down to is the question “Do I qualify as ______ for the purposes of ______ legislation?,” and to answer that question you usually have to read that legislation very carefully.

Provincial legislation

” Qualifying as a spouse might mean that you’re entitled to the family rate for MSP, that you can share in your spouse’s estate if your spouse dies, or that you’re no longer entitled to social assistance under the Employment and Assistance Act. It also might mean that you’re entitled to ask for spousal support or the division of property under the Family Law Act if your relationship ends.

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In general, for most but not all provincial laws, you must have lived with your partner for at least two years to qualify as a spouse. Here’s the definition of “spouse” from section 2(1) of the provincial Wills, Estates and Succession Act:

. 2 persons are spouses of each other for the purposes of this Act if they were both alive immediately before a relevant time and

(a) is married to another person, and is not living separate and apart, within the meaning of the Divorce Act (Canada), from the other person, or

As you can see, there are subtle differences between these definitions, but lots of similarities as well. For people who aren’t married to each other, the common thread involved in being a “spouse” under the legislation of British Columbia is the idea of living together in a “marriage-like relationship.”

Federal legislation

Most federal laws distinguish between “spouses,” people who are legally married, and “common-law partners,” who aren’t. Qualifying as a common-law partner might mean that you are entitled to a share of your partner’s CPP credits, receive the Old Age Security spouse allowance or survivor’s benefits, or the spouse amount for the GST Credit.

In general, you must have lived with your partner for at least one year to qualify as a common-law partner under federal legislation. Here’s the definition from section 2 of the Old Age Security Act:

"common-law partner", in relation to an individual, means a person who is cohabiting with the individual in a conjugal relationship at the relevant time, having so cohabited with the individual for a continuous period of at least one year.

"common-law partner", with respect to a taxpayer at any time, means a person who cohabits at that time in a conjugal relationship with the taxpayer and

(b) would be the parent of a child of whom the taxpayer is a parent, if this Act were read without reference to paragraphs 252(1)(c) and (e) and subparagraph 252(2)(a)(iii),

and, for the purpose of this definition, where at any time the taxpayer and the person cohabit in a conjugal relationship, they are, at any particular time after that time, deemed to be cohabiting in a conjugal relationship unless they were living separate and apart at the particular time for a period of least 90 days that includes the particular time because of a breakdown of their conjugal relationship.