Found it!!
It is already established that you can include spouse or common-law partner in your EE application.
Ministerial Instructions for the Express Entry Application Management System : last amended on May 30, 2015
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/mi/express-entry.asp
Definitions
“accompanying spouse or common-law partner”, in respect of a foreign national, means the foreign national’s spouse or common-law partner who is accompanying him or her to Canada and who is not a Canadian Citizen or a permanent resident.
“common-law partner” has the same meaning as in subsection 1(1) of the Regulations.
**Now if you check Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/sor-2002-227/FullText.html
subsection 1(1) : provides the same definition of common-law partner as stated above and then subsection 1(2) states this
"Interpretation — common-law partner
(2) For the purposes of the Act and these Regulations, an individual who has been in a conjugal relationship with a person for at least one year but is unable to cohabit with the person, due to persecution or any form of penal control, shall be considered a common-law partner of the person."
I could not find CICs definition on conjugal relationship in the regulations page or ministerial instruction on express entry page. However there is a definition available in this page :
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse-apply-who.asp
"Conjugal partner
This category is for partners—either of the opposite sex or same sex—in situations beyond their control that keep them from living together so they would count as common-law partners or spouses.
A conjugal relationship is more than a physical relationship. It means you depend on each other, there is some permanence to the relationship, and there is the same level of commitment as a marriage or a common-law partnership.
You may apply as a conjugal partner if:
you have had a conjugal relationship with your sponsor for at least one year and you could not live together or marry because of
an immigration barrier,
your marital status (for example, you are married to someone else and living in a country where divorce is not possible) or
your sexual orientation (for example, you are in a same-sex relationship and same-sex marriage is not permitted where you live) and
you can prove there was a reason you could not live together (for example, you were refused long-term stays in each other’s country).
You should not apply as a conjugal partner if:
you could have lived together but chose not to, as this shows that you did not have the level of commitment needed for a conjugal relationship (for example, one of you may not have wanted to give up a job or a course of study, or your relationship was not yet at the point where you were ready to live together),
you cannot prove there was a reason that kept you from living together,
you are engaged to be married (in this case, you should either apply as a spouse once the marriage has taken place or apply as a common-law partner if you have lived together continuously for at least 12 months)."
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So it appears that even if you are not living / have lived together, you can still be considered as Common-law provided the reason for not cohabiting together is beyond your control and at the same time, you meet the definitions of a conjugal relationship. Please note that this is my interpretation of the information that I could find. You should wait for other forum members to also share their thoughts.
This is not a straightforward case and thus you will need to deep-dive into several pages to determine if your situation really qualifies under any immigration program.
