Persons who, bound by marriage or civil union, cohabit.
Common-law spouses are treated as spouses, unless the context otherwise requires. Common-law partners are two persons, of different sex or of the same sex, who live together and publicly present themselves as a couple, without regard, unless otherwise provided, to the duration of their life together. If, in the absence of a legal criterion for the recognition of a common-law relationship, a controversy arises as to the existence of the community of life, it is presumed as soon as the persons have cohabited for at least one year or from the moment they become parents of the same child (section 61.1 of the Interpretation Act).
WARNING! Several social statutes, as well as the Act respecting labour standards and the Income Tax Act, contain a broad definition of the term "spouses". They include, in addition to marriage or civil union, other factual situations that do not require to be contracted publicly before a competent officiant.
