Is a common law partner entitled to the same evidentiary protection as a married spouse?

Furthermore, as the court noted in Miron v. Trudel, supra, “63 Ontario statutes currently make no distinction between married partners and unmarried partners who have cohabited in a conjugal relationship” (para. 155). To include common law partners in the evidentiary protection granted by s. 4 harmonizes the Canada Evidence Act with other legislation which, for most intents and purposes, has abolished the distinction between married and common law spouses. A further 21 Ontario statutes employed a modified definition of “spouse”, i.e. as requiring marriage or cohabitation for at least one year or having a child together, or entering into a cohabitation agreement (para. 170). To include common law spouses in the evidentiary protection of s. 4 of the Canada Evidence Act does no more than keep the law in step with changed and changing social and moral fabric of Canada.