Cohabitational Relationships
| Author | Julien D. Payne/Marilyn A. Payne |
| Pages | 45-63 |
COHABITATIONAL
RELATIONSHIPS1
A. INT RODUCTION
Cohabitational relationships involve two people who share their lives
togetherbutarenotmarriedtoeachother.Cohabitationalrelation
-
For excellent sources dea ling w ith the legal i mplications of unmar ried cohabit ation
in Canada, see Alberta Law Reform Institute, Towards Reform of the Law Relating
to Cohabitation OutsideMarriage, Repor t No. (Edmonton: e Institute, );
Ontario Law Reform Comm ission, Report on the Rights and Responsibiliti es of
Cohabitants under the Family Law Act (Toronto: e Commis sion, ); Winifred
H.Holland&BarbroE.Stalbecker-Pountney,Cohabitation: e Law in Can ada
(Toronto: Carswell, ); Winifred H. Hol land, “Marriage and Cohabit ation: Has
theTimeCometoBridgetheGap”in,Special Lectures of the Law Societyof Upper
Canada,FamilyLaw:Roles,FairnessandEquality(Scarborou gh, ON: Carswell,
)at; NicholasBala,“ControversyOverCouplesinCanada:eEvolution
of Marriages a ndO ther Adult Interdependent Relationships ,”on line: -
ver.queensu.ca/law/papers/evolutionapril.html>; Nicholas Bala, “Alternatives
ForExtendingSpousalStatusinCanada”online:<http://www.familylawcentre.
com/ccbalaspousal.html>; Winnifred H. Holland, “Intimate Relationshipsin the
New Millennium,” online: //www.familylawcentre.com/ccholland.html>. For
ausefulsummaryofotherlegalsystems,see William N.Eskridge,Jr.,“Compara
-
tive Law and the Sam e-Sex Marriage Debate: A Step-by-Step Approach to St ate
Recognition” () McGeorge L. Rev. . As to the po ssibility of extendi ng
legalrightsandobligationstoabroaderrangeofpersonalrelationships,see Law
Commission of Ca nada, Discussion Paper, “Recogni zing and Supporting Clo se
Personal Relationsh ips between Adults,” onli ne: .
CANADIAN FAMILY LAW
ships may involve members of the opposite sex or members of t he same
sex. Unmarr ied heterosexua l cohabitation is somet imes referred to as a
common-law relationship. Unma rried cohabita nts go under a varie ty of
names, including common-law spouse, co-vivant,significant other, mate,
life partner, cohabitee, and cohabitant.
AlthoughtheCanadiancensusincludesnodataonsamesexrelation
-
ships,approximatelypercentofCanadianfamiliesinvolveunmarried
cohabitants of the oppositesex. On October ,,Statistics Canada re-
leased itsdata from the Census on the subjectof marital status, com-
mon-law unions, and families. Included inthat Report is the following:
Families: growth strongest among c ommon-law couple families
Of all family structures, growth was strongest among common-law
couple families. In , , such families were counted, up
from . (e Census defines com mon-lawp artners as two persons of
opposite sex who are not legally married to each other, but live together
ashusbandandwifeinthesamedwelling).
In , one couple in seven in Ca nada was living com mon-law,com-
paredtoaboutoneinninein.emaritalstatusofindividualsincom
-
mon-lawunionsremainedalmostthesamebetweenand:nearly
two-third s of them were single, while over a quar ter were divorced.
Almost halfof the common-law couple familiesincluded children,
whether born to the c urrent union or brought to the f amily from previ-
ous unions.
Common-lawfamilieswerebyfarmostfrequentinQuebec,which
had ,, or of all suchfamilies in Canada. One couple in four
()inQuebeclivedcommon-law.
Between and , thenumber of common-law families grew
fastest in New Brunswick and the Northwest Territories. Increases
were also above t he national average of in Newfoundl and, Prince
Edward Island a nd Quebec, and in the Yukon.
And further:
Substantially more children in common-law couple famili es
In , , children were livingin common-lawcouple families, a
substantial increase from .
Nationally, of all chi ldren under the age of si x were living in
common-lawcouple families.
InQuebec,bycomparison,percentofallchildreninthisage
groupwereincommon-lawcouplefamilies.
To continue reading
Request your trial