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5.35. What is cohabitation?

“Cohabitation” means “living together.” Two people who are cohabiting have combined their affairs and set up their household together in one dwelling. To be considered common-law partners, they must have cohabited for at least one year. This is the standard definition used across the federal government. It means continuous cohabitation for one year, not intermittent cohabitation adding up to one year. The continuous nature of the cohabitation is a universal understanding based on case law.

While cohabitation means living together continuously, from time to time, one or the other partner may have left the home for work or business travel, family obligations, and so on. The separation must be temporary and short.

The following is a list of indicators about the nature of the household that constitute evidence that a couple in a conjugal relationship is cohabiting:

- Joint bank accounts and/or credit cards;

- Joint ownership of residential property;

- Joint residential leases;

- Joint rental receipts;

- Joint utilities accounts (electricity, gas, telephone);

- Joint management of household expenditures;

- Evidence of joint purchases, especially for household items;

- Correspondence addressed to either or both parties at the same address;

- Important documents of both parties show the same address, e.g., identification documents, driver’s licenses, insurance polices, etc.;

- Shared responsibility for household management, household chores, etc.;

- Evidence of children of one or both partners residing with the couple;

- Telephone calls.

These elements may be present in varying degrees and not all are necessary to prove cohabitation. This list is not exhaustive; other evidence may be taken into consideration.

"You are considered a "licensee" and the person who rents the place to you is a "licensor". The law of landlord and tenant does not apply. Neither the Commercial Tenancies Act nor the Residential Tenancies Act applies to you. The law about licensees is mostly judge-made law.

A licensee has a limited right to occupy the premises for a limited period of time. The courts will look at many factors to determine whether a person is in a landlord-tenant relationship or a licensor-licensee relationship. There is no simple test. Two common situations when you would likely be considered to be a licensee are:

*if you share a house or condominium unit (including a bathroom or kitchen) with the owner or their child, parent, spouse, or their spouse's child or parent
*if you rent a room in a house, apartment or condominium unit from a person who is a tenant living there, and you share the space with that person.

As a licensee you have very little legal protection. You can be evicted:

*without notice if you don't pay rent; or
*with notice for any reason or even for no reason. The amount of notice required is usually equal to your rental period (often one week or one month).

It is often a good idea to get a written agreement before moving in. You should include in this agreement what will happen if you want to move out or if the person you rent from wants you to leave. If there is a dispute between you and the person you rent from, and you cannot settle it between yourselves, you may have to go to court. Depending on the type of dispute, you may be able to go to Small Claims Court or the Superior Court. It is very unlikely the court would stop you from being evicted, but you may be entitled to monetary compensation in some situations."

Hi

My parents came to Canada on April 2, 2014. They were told back then that they will be getting the cards within 2 months.

Unfortunately, we urgently need to leave the country at the end of the month and we still didn't get the cards. Today is the 76th day.

We called CIC and we learned that they increased their processing time to 94 days. The call centre agents are not helpful with providing us with the application status. They don't even want to look up the application saying the processing time is not over 94 days.

I am just wondering if people who landed at the beginning of April 2014 can confirm or not if they got their cards already. We are hoping my parents' cards got processed in an earlier batch (not the 94 days batch)

Since we will be out of the country for 1 week, we won't be able to apply for a travel document. The only option is to cross the border and use the CoPR to enter the country at Buffalo.

We are already stressed planning the re-route flights to buffalo (will pay extra too), asking a family member to cross the border to pick us up and bring us back to canada from Buffalo.

We would like to get some feedback about the process: Is it a lengthy and difficult process to enter using CoPR?

Is there any other option we forgot to think about?

Many thanks
KnowledgeIsForEveryone

This visa is for parents and grandparents of permanent residents or Canadian citizens.
The parent or grandparent must be considered admissible to Canada and meet other conditions.
For example, applicants need a letter of financial support from their child or grandchild in Canada, who meets the minimum required income.
Applicants also need to purchase and show proof of Canadian medical insurance that meets the minimum requirements and covers them for at least 1 year.
The process is different if the parent or grandparent is from a country where a visa is required to enter Canada as a visitor.

"7.8 Examining Permanent Residents at a POE (Port of Entry)

When a permanent resident appears at a POE for examination, the officer must confirm that the person is a permanent resident. Officers must remain cognizant of the fact the Act gives permanent residents of Canada the right to enter Canada at a port of entry once it is established that a person is a Permanent Resident, regardless of non-compliance with the residency obligation in A28 or the presence of other grounds of inadmissability.

Port of entry officers (POE) can refuse entry to a Permanent Resident only when the person has already lost the status in accordance with the provisions of A46 (such as when a final determination has been made that they have failed to comply with the residency obligations or when a removal order comes into force).

In other words, once a permanent resident's status is established, the person may enter Canada by right and the immigration examination under IRPA concludes.

If an officer has concerns that a permanent resident has not complied with the residency obligation of A28, the officer should advise the permanent resident when the examination is concluded that they are authorized to enter Canada; however, the permanent resident may wish to answer additional questions so the officer may determine whether their concerns are well founded or not.

In cases where:
- permanent resident status is established;
- the permanent resident refuses to provide any further information and enters Canada;
and
- the officer believes, on a balance of probabilities that the person is in non-compliance with the residency obligation, officers may report the person, pursuant to A44(1). if there is sufficient evidence to support an inadmissibility allegation. In the absence of sufficient evidence to support the writing of an inadmissibility report, officers may enter any available information into FOSS (date of entry, last country of embarkation, current address in Canada etc.).

If an officer has concerns that a permanent resident has not complied with the residency obligation of A28, the officer should advise the permanent resident when the examination is concluded that they are authorized to enter Canada; however, the permanent resident may wish to answer additional questions so the officer may determine whether their concerns are well founded or not.

It is important to note that a permanent resident does not lose their status under A46(1)(b) until there is a final determination of the decision made outside Canada that they have failed to comply with the residency obligation under A28.

Permanent residents are not finally determined to have lost their permanent resident status until the right of appeal has been exhausted.

5. Departmental Policy

When an officer believes a permanent resident has failed to comply with their A28 residency obligation, then that officer should report the permanent resident under the provisions of A44(1) and recommend the issuing of a departure order.

The form Questionnaire: Determination of Permanent Resident Status (IMM 5511B) has been developed specifically to assist officers in making decisions regarding the permanent residency obligation, keeping in mind that the questionnaire alone is not sufficient to determine compliance with the residency obligation, and a detailed interview including examining humanitarian and compassionate criteria under A28(2)(c) is needed.

Furthermore, the officer cannot seize the person’s documents (such as the IMM 1000, Immigrant Visa and Record of Landing and the IMM 5292B, for example) despite writing an A44(1) report and issuing a removal order unless the officer believes there are reasonable grounds to do so in accordance with A140. The rationale behind this is that the person has a right to appeal the removal order and, until final determination of status, they remain a permanent resident and are the lawful owner of said documents.

A data quality verification process is in place at the CPC-PRC to ensure that the information recorded on the Confirmation of Permanent Resident form [IMM 5292B]
matches the FOSS record before a PR card is issued. In cases where a discrepancy is noted, steps must be taken to identify the correct information and make the appropriate amendment. It is important that amendments be processed in a systematic manner.

How do claims affect my premium?

Some types of claims do not affect your premium. For example, claims where you were 25% or less at fault do not affect your premium. In addition, some companies allow one at-fault claim, regardless of percentage at fault, for clients believed to be good drivers, with little or no adjustment in rating or premium at renewal. Claims for theft, vandalism, fire, broken glass and collision (when you are not at fault) do not affect your renewal premium.

Income Support: Who is eligible

You may qualify for Income Support if you:

-are 18 years of age or older
-live in Ontario
-are in financial need, and
-have a substantial physical or mental disability that:

is expected to last a year or more, and makes it hard for you to care for yourself, take part in community life or work.