The PACS in Canada: we explain

The Pacs opens the doors to many prerogatives and thus attracts many individuals and couples enjoying French citizenship. The union gives access to social rights, such as a good insurance for the uninsured partner. It also grants a transfer right, ideal for public employees who work in a location geographically distant from their partner. What is a civil union in Canada?

Understanding the Pacs

The Pacs has been open to same-sex and opposite-sex couples since November 15, 1999. It exists only on French soil.

It is not recognized in Canada. You have therefore as a common law spouse.

What is the Pacs?

The Civil Solidarity Pact (Pacs) is a contract that formalizes the union between two consenting persons who wish to live together. Residence on French soil authorizes you to enter into a Pacs. It gives you a status corresponding to that of a spouse in Canada.

The conclusion of a Pacs moves the partners from cohabitation status to married status. However, Canada sees the contract only as an officialization of the status of cohabitants.

The document encourages the spouses to govern their lives together well: daily expenses, repayment of debts and assistance in case of material or financial incapacity. It also requires a duty of mutual loyalty.

The Pacs invites you to choose your matrimonial regime. You have the choice between: separation of property and joint ownership. In the separation of property, the assets acquired before and during the civil union remain the property of the purchaser. The joint ownership system subjects the property acquired during the civil union to joint ownership (in equal shares between the couple).

What are the advantages of the Pacs ?

The simplicity of the procedures is an undeniable advantage. All that is required is to fill out and sign a written agreement that will become the official legal contract.

Couples also appreciate the flexibility of the contract. In case of rupture, thecancellation of the civil pact is limited to a joint declaration: at the Registry of the Court of First Instance or at the notary who registered the contract. Only one spouse can dissolve the Pacs by informing the bailiff of his or her ex-partner.

Thetax advantage of the Pacs is that it is taxed together from the first year of living together, despite the fact that salaries are not equal.

What are the disadvantages of the PACS ?

The PACS erases some advantages. In the context of cohabitation, single people with several children benefit from a special increase in the family quota. In addition, they enjoy a tax advantage, knowing that the dependent child is only a half share for taxes and not a full share. However, the conclusion of a PACS puts an end to these benefits.

Newly joined persons also give up their alimony, as well as their reversionary pension (compensation intended for widows or widowers upon the death of their spouse).

The declaration of joint taxation following a PACS also puts an end to the tax reduction.

What are the obligations related to the Pacs ?

The signing of a PACS contract creates a variety of legal obligations, such as theobligation to live together. The civil union partners must live together at all times. Obviously, temporary absences are allowed.

Partners also have an obligation to help each other. They must provide material aid and assistance in proportion to their abilities. The terms of the mutual aid obligation are specified in the Pacs agreement.

In a cohabitation, the management of expenses is free. However, the PACS is financially binding on the partners. They are subject to an obligation to share current expenses. The budgetary sharing applies to the expenses of the daily life. The distribution depends on the current situation of the spouses. For example, if only one partner was on the lease before the Pacs, the union obliges the other partner to contribute to the rent and related expenses.

Pacs vs. marriage

The Pacs shares many similarities with the civil union and marriage in Canada (responsibility, rules of family patrimony, matrimonial regime). However, there are a few points of divergence.

Recognition of the union

Marriage is an ancient act and is therefore recognized by most countries. Thecivil union is more recent and less widespread, but remains valid in the eyes of world governments.

The PACS is still a recent concept . It may correspond to an equivalent in developed countries. Less developed countries, where tradition and culture are predominant, do not accept the Pacs. Therefore, find out more before crossing the borders of a foreign country.

Conditions for signing the contract

If the minimum legal age for marriage is 16, it is 18 for a civil union.

In the case of a divorce, the dissolution of the civil union takes place in a court. A simple agreement between the two parties is sufficient to break the civil pact. However, the advice and intervention of an expert will always be useful if the matter becomes complicated.

Marriage to another partner ends a previous civil union. However, the opposite is not possible. A civil union or a Pacs cannot put an end to a previous marriage that has not obtained a divorce.

How do you become a pacs?

Since November^1, 2017, the pacs is concluded at the town hall and no longer at the court of first instance. What procedures to follow for the signature?

Conditions of eligibility for a PACS

Partners must meet a few eligibility criteria:

• They must be of legal age and have reached the age of majority set by their country of birth;
• Be legally capable, that is to say, not be an adult under guardianship or tutelage;
• Not be married or in a civil union;
• Not to have direct family ties between the partners.

The absence of one of these conditions compromises the validation of the Pacs.

The administrative steps for the conclusion of a Pacs

Obtaining the contract requires some administrative documents. Put together your file:

• Identity document ;
• Complete copy of your birth certificate;
• Certificate on the honor of residence in the geographical area of your city hall;
• Certificate of non-Pacs with another person;
• Family record book of previous unions (for formerly married partners).

The partners then fill out a Pacs agreement in duplicate. Online Pacs models are also available and can be downloaded. The procedures are strictly administrative and do not require any ceremony.

How do I enter into a pacs with a non-French resident in Canada?

The union between a French citizen and a foreign citizen residing in France and the union of two citizens of foreign nationalities who wish to enter into a pacs in Canada involves a series of steps.

Documents required for a Pacs

The constitution of the application file requires :

• A complete copy of the birth certificate of the partners dated less than 3 months;
• Proof of French nationality (for French citizens);
• Proof of status in Canada;
• Proof of common residence;
• Agreement in 2 copies established by the partners or via the cerfa form N° 15726*02 ;
• Joint declaration of a Pacs ;
• Certificate of non-relationship, non-alliance and common residence.

In addition to these documents, a certificate of custom and a certificate of non-impediment to the conclusion of a Pacs are required. The certificate of custom attests that the future foreign partner meets the conditions of eligibility for marriage in his or her country of residence.

The certificate of non-empractice is essential for a foreigner who wishes to enter into a civil union with a French resident on French soil. According to French law, the document attests that the future foreign partner meets the French legal requirements.

How to obtain the certificate of non-empractice to the conclusion of a Pacs ?

The request for a certificate of non-impediment to the conclusion of a Pacs requires the constitution of an additional application file. The request requires:

• Copy of the future partner’s birth certificate;
• Copy of his or her passport;
• Copy of the Canadian citizenship card (for Canadian citizens);
• Copy of the identity card, residence permit or passport of the French citizen partner;
• Date and place of the Pacs.

Each situation has its own particularities. The application may require other documents. Ask a legal expert for details.

The documents are sent to the Consulate General of France in Montreal, Quebec.

The Pacs on the day

The celebration takes place at the Consulate General of France in Montreal. The steps are simple and quick. There is no need to make an appointment at the Consulate. An agent will contact the principals concerned to arrange an appointment.

The D-day refers to the signing of the agreement. The presence of both partners is mandatory. For security reasons, entering the consulate requires a few formalities: searches, passing through security gates, temporary confiscation of telephones..

During the hearing, the officials and the partners sign the agreement, validating the pacs.

No official ceremony is required at the signing. However, the partners are free to organize a party in honor of their new union.