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In March 2012, the federal government announced a new proposal to introduce a conditional permanent residence period for sponsored spouses, and published the proposed regulatory changes in the Canada Gazette. This new proposal is based on the initial proposal from March 2011 of a period of conditional permanent residence of two years or more for sponsored spouses and partners who have been in a relationship of two years or less with their sponsors. According to the new proposal, if the sponsored spouse or partner does not remain in a conjugal relationship and cohabitate with their sponsor during the conditional period, their permanent residence could be revoked, and they could be deported.

What is proposed in the notice?

• The change would apply to spouses and partners who have been in a relationship with their sponsor for two years or less, and have no children with their sponsor at the time of the sponsorship application.
• These sponsored spouses/partners would be subject to a period of “conditional" permanent residence for two years following receipt of their permanent residence status in Canada during which they must cohabit and remain in a conjugal relationship with their sponsor.
• If the sponsored spouse/partner does not meet the above condition, their permanent residence could be revoked, leading to deportation
• The proposed condition would cease to apply in instances where there is evidence of abuse or neglect by the sponsor, or of a failture by the sponsor to protect from abuse or neglect by another person related to the sponsor during the conditional period.

The CCR is firmly opposed to the proposal, and has joined with other organizations in publicly urging the government not to pursue it.

Introducing “conditional permanent residence” would represent a major step backwards in Canadian immigration policy, increase inequalities in relationships between spouses, and put women in particular at heightened risk of violence. The CCR believes that the exemption for abused spouses and partners will be ineffective.

What are the main concerns with this legislation?

• Making permanent residence conditional on staying in the marriage for two years traps abused partners (mainly women) into staying in abusive relationships for fear of losing their status.
• Abused partners, especially women, will not be able to take advantage of the exemption because of: barriers to access information on the exemption (e.g. language, isolation); burden of proving their own abuse; cost of providing evidence of abuse.
• Children will also be hurt, for example when they remain with their parent in an abusive home, or if they face being separated from one parent if the sponsored parent is removed from Canada.
• Making permanent residence for the sponsored partner/spouse conditional puts all the power into the hands of the sponsor, who can use the precarity of his or her partner’s status as a tool for manipulation – at any time, he can declare the spouse fraudulent and have her deported. This can be a constant threat and source of fear for the sponsored person.
• This power imbalance affects all sponsored partners, regardless of “genuineness” of relationship, and reinforces unequal gendered power dynamics.
• There is no evidence that this measure is necessary, and that marriage fraud is a significant problem in Canada
• There is no evidence presented to indicate that a two year conditional period will deter sponsored partners entering relationships with the objective of obtaining legal status in Canada, who may simply wait out the conditional period. However this period will have significant impact on those in genuine relationships that break down, whether due to abuse or not.
• The notice mentions that similar policies are already in place in the UK, Australia and the U.S. But experts in those countries have reported that conditional status creates the problems mentioned above, putting abused partners at risk and giving increased power to abusive sponsors.

* Violence in intimate relationships is not limited to heterosexual relationships, and may also occur in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender/transsexual intimate relationships. As such, the problem of abuse between sponsors and sponsored partners is not limited to heterosexual couples, and the proposal for Conditional Permanent Residence will also have an adverse effect on LGBT sponsored partners in situations of abuse.

See page on the March 2011 proposal for conditional permanent residence for sponsored spouses