The other benefit of including a spouse on your application is you can bring them with you...shah2014 said:@ Msimms
Well, while Canada is family oriented but the only benefit of "spouse" in immigration is Adaptability points, so if u or him reachs 67 without those points there is NO OTHER BENEFIT IN THE IMMIGRATION PROCESS.
May i know which country are u from. because u can claim common law union ONLY if its LEGALLY allowed in your country. If its acceptable but not legally allowed, i don't think that you can claim it.
Regarding, acceptance of these docs, you may check the CIC guidelines in detail at following address and document checklist. IN my opinion these docs should be enough, if lease was executed more than 1 yr ago and account/insurance are continuing for more than a year.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/EG7TOC.asp
I am not sure about common law unions but I believe you can declare them even if they are not legally recognized in your country. I remember reading something from CIC about how you can explain a common law relationship that is shunned in the applicant's home country (because it is homosexual, for example, where in Canada that is perfectly fine).