Ottawa, October 28, 2016 — The Government of Canada is committed to family reunification. Draft changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations which outline the proposed change to remove the conditional permanent residence regulatory requirements have been published in the Canada Gazette Part I for a 30-day comment period.

Currently, certain spouses or partners of Canadian citizens and permanent residents must live with their sponsor for two years as a condition of their permanent residence. The condition is placed on a sponsored spouse or partner who is in a relationship of two years or less with their partner and have no children in common at the time of their sponsorship application.

The Government is proposing to eliminate the current conditional permanent residence measure so that these individuals are no longer required to live with their sponsors for two years in order to maintain their permanent residence status.

Removing the condition is in line with the Government’s commitment to reunite families and make it easier for immigrants to build successful lives in Canada.

The proposal also supports the Government’s commitment to gender equality and combating gender violence by addressing concerns that conditional permanent residence may result in vulnerable spouses staying in abusive relationships.

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