Understanding Criteria for Common-Law
Trying to understand common-law status for Canadian PR purposes.
My partner and I started dating in Sept 2022. We lived in the same houses since then, but always with roommates/housemates and usually had separate bedrooms. It felt more like “dating while sharing housing” for a while, not fully living as a married-style couple.
Around Sept 2025 we got much more serious (started a business together, became more integrated financially/life-wise), and in Feb 2026 we got our own apartment together with just the two of us on the lease.
For IRCC/common-law purposes, would the clock likely start from:
when we first shared an address in 2022, or
when the relationship became more serious, or
when we got our own apartment in 2026?
Main concern is correctly declaring marital status for PR forms. I’ll also check with a lawyer, just trying to see if anyone has gone through something similar. When I checked online, conjugal relationship seems to be the imp part.