Citizenship & Immigration Canada states that a common-law partner refers to a person who is living in a conjugal relationship with another person (opposite or same sex), and has done so continuously for a period of at least one year.

In order for a couple to have common-law standing in Ontario and Manitoba, they must be living together in a conjugal relationship for three years or more, or one year with a child. In Manitoba, the couple could register their common-law relationship at the Vital Statistics Registry.

Common-law marriage, also known as sui juris marriage, informal marriage, marriage by habit and repute, or marriage, in fact is a legal framework in a limited number of jurisdictions where a couple is legally considered married, without that couple having formally registered their relation as a civil or religious.

Judge-made law – known as common law – is law that has developed from judgments handed down in court. It is most often used to make decisions about areas that are not included in Acts of Parliament. When using common law judges decide cases along the lines of earlier decisions made in similar cases ('precedents')

Common law (also known as judicial precedent or judge-made law, or case law) is that body of law derived from judicial decisions of courts and similar tribunals.

The common law of England was largely created in the period after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Anglo-Saxons, especially after the accession of Alfred the Great (871), had developed a body of rules resembling those being used by the Germanic peoples of northern Europe.

The Common law applies only to civil cases. England is the origin of the common law that exists in the U.S.. The English common law originated in the early middle ages in the King's Court (Curia Regis) and eventually led to the formulation of various viable principles through which it continues to operate.

The Importance of Precedent. In a common law system, judges are obliged to make their rulings as consistent as reasonably possible with previous judicial decisions on the same subject.

The term common law can refer to two things. ... A common law system is the system of jurisprudence that is based on the doctrine of judicial precedent, the principle under which the lower courts must follow the decisions of the higher courts, rather than on statutory laws.

The main differentiation between common law and statutory law is the way in which the laws are created. As stated above, common law comes from precedent. Statutory law is made by the Government. ... This means judges will incorporate both written statutes and case precedent when issuing a ruling.