Cohabitational Relationships

• Author: Julien D. Payne/Marilyn A. Payne
• Pages: 45-64

 

COHABITATIONAL

RELATIONSHIPS1

A. INTRODUC TION

Cohabitational relationships involve two people who share their lives

together but are not married to each other. Cohabitational relation-

 For excellent sources deal ing with the legal implic ations of unmarried cohabitat ionFor excellent sources dea ling with the legal i mplications of unmarrie d cohabitation

in Canada, see A lberta Law Reform Inst itute, Towards Reform of the Law Relating

to Cohabitation Outside Marriage, Report No.  (Edmonton: e Ins titute, );

Ontario Law Reform Com mission, Report on e Rights and Re sponsibilities of

Cohabitants under the Fami ly Law Act, (Toronto: e Commission, ); Winif red

H. Holland & Barbro E . Stalbecker-Pountney, Cohabitation:  e Law in Canada

(Toronto: Carswell, ); Winifred H . Holland, “Marriage and C ohabitation: Has

the Time Come to Bridge t he Gap” in e Law Society of Upper Can ada, Special

Lectures of th e Law Society of Upper Canad a, Family Law: Roles, Fairness a nd

Equality (Scarborough, ON: Carswell, ) at ; Nicholas Ba la, “Controversy

Over Couples in Can ada: e Evolution of Marriages and Ot her Adult Interde-

pendent Relationships,” onl ine: http://qsilver.queensu.ca/law/papers/evolutionapril.

html; Nicholas Ba la, “Alternatives For Extending Spou sal Status in Canad a,”

online: ww w.familylawcentre.com/ccbal aspousal.html; Wi nnifred H. Holla nd,

“Intimate Relation ships in the New Millen nium,” online: ww w.familylawcentre.

com/ccholland.htm l. For a useful summa ry of other legal systems, s ee William N.

Eskridge, Jr., “Comparat ive Law and the Same-Sex Marr iage Debate: A Step-by-

Step Approach to State Recognit ion” ()  McGeorge L. Rev. . As to the

possibilit y of extending legal right s and obligations to a broader range of per sonal

relationships, se e Law Commission of Canada, Di scussion Paper, “Recognizi ng and

Supporting Clo se Personal Relationships Bet ween Adults,” online: ww w.lcc.gc.ca.

45

46 CANADIAN FAMILY LAW

ships may involve members of the opposite sex or members of the same

sex. Unmar ried heterosexu al cohabitation i s sometimes refer red to as a

common-law relationship. Unmarried cohabitants go under a variety of

names, including common-law spouse, co-vivant, signi f‌icant other, mate,

life partner, cohabitee, and cohabitant.

Although the Canadian census includes no data on same-sex rela-

tionships, approx imately  percent of Ca nadian fa milies i nvolve un-

married cohabitants of the opposite sex. On  Oc tober , Statistics

Canada released its data from the  Census on the subject of mar ital

status, common-law unions, and famil ies. Included in that report is the

following:

Families: growth strongest among common-l aw couple families

Of all family structures, growth was strongest among common-law

couple families. In , , such families were counted, up 

from . (e Census def‌ines common-law par tners as two persons of

opposite sex who are not legall y married to each other, but live together

as husband and wife i n the same dwelling).

In , one couple in seven in Canada w as living common law, com-

pared to about one in nine i n . e marital status of i ndividuals

in common-law unions remained almost the same between  and

: nearly two-thirds of them were si ngle, while over a quar ter were

divorced.

Almost half of the common-law couple families included children,

whether born to the cur rent union or brought to the family from prev i-

ous unions.

Common-law fami lies were by far most freq uent in Quebec, which had

, , or  of a ll such famil ies in C anada. One couple in four ( )

in Quebec lived common law.

Between  and , the number of common-law fami lies grew fast-

est in New Bruns wick and the Northwest Territories. I ncreases were

also above the nation al average of  in Newfound land, Prince Ed-

ward Island and Queb ec, and in the Yukon.

And further:

Substantially more children in common-law couple famili es

In , , children were living in common-law couple families, a

substantial  increa se from .