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Bill C-386

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1st Session, 36th Parliament,
46-47 Elizabeth II, 1997-98

The House of Commons of Canada

BILL C-386

An Act to amend the Income Tax Act and the Canada Pension Plan (definition of spouse)

      Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

R.S., c. 1 (5th Supp.); 1994, cc. 7, 8, 13, 21, 29, 38, 41; 1995, cc. 1, 3, 11, 18, 21, 38, 46; 1996, cc. 11, 21, 25; 1997, cc. 10, 12, 25, 26

INCOME TAX ACT

1. (1) Paragraph 252(4)(a) of the Income Tax Act is replaced by the following:

Extended meaning of ``spouse''

    (a) subject to subsections (5) and (6), words referring to a spouse at any time of a taxpayer include the person of the opposite sex who cohabits at that time with the taxpayer in a conjugal relationship and

      (i) has so cohabited with the taxpayer throughout a 12-month period ending before that time, or

      (ii) is a parent of a child of whom the taxpayer is a parent (otherwise than because of the application of subparagraph 2(a)(iii))

and, for the purposes of this paragraph, where at any time the taxpayer and the person cohabit in a conjugal relationship, they shall, at any particular time after that time, be deemed to be cohabiting in a conjugal relationship unless they were not cohabiting at the particular time for a period of at least 90 days that includes the particular time because of a breakdown of their conjugal relationship;

(2) Section 252 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (4):

Extended meaning of ``spouse''

(5) For the purposes of section 146, words referring to a spouse at any time of a taxpayer include the person of the opposite sex or of the same sex who cohabits at that time with the taxpayer in a conjugal relationship and

    (a) has so cohabited with the taxpayer throughout a 12-month period ending before that time, or

    (b) is a parent of a child of whom the taxpayer is a parent (otherwise than because of the application of subparagraph 2(a)(iii))

and, for the purposes of this paragraph, where at any time the taxpayer and the person cohabit in a conjugal relationship, they shall, at any particular time after that time, be deemed to be cohabiting in a conjugal relationship unless they were not cohabiting at the particular time for a period of at least 90 days that includes the particular time because of a breakdown of their conjugal relationship.

Extended meaning of ``spouse''

(6) Where the application of a subsection of section 146 in which reference is made to a spouse of a taxpayer involves the application of another section of this Act in which such a reference is also made, words referring to a spouse of a taxpayer, in the other section, include persons described in subsection (5).

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) apply to the 1997 and subsequent taxation years.

R.S., c. C-8; R.S., cc. 6, 41 (1st Supp.), cc. 5, 13, 27, 30 (2nd Supp.) cc. 18, 38 (3rd Supp.), cc. 1, 46, 51 (4th Supp.); 1990, c. 8; 1991, cc. 14, 44, 49; 1992, cc. 1, 2, 27, 48; 1993, cc. 24, 27, 28; 1994, cc. 13, 21; 1995, c. 33; 1996, cc. 11, 16, 23

CANADA PENSION PLAN

2. (1) The definition ``spouse'' in section 2 of the Canada Pension Plan is replaced by the following:

``spouse''
« conjoint »

``spouse'', in relation to a contributor, means,

      (a) except in or in relation to section 55,

        (i) if there is no person described in subparagraph (ii), a person who is married to the contributor at the relevant time, or

        (ii) a person of the opposite sex or of the same sex who is cohabiting with the contributor in a conjugal relationship at the relevant time, having so cohabited with the contributor for a continuous period of at least one year, and

    (b) in or in relation to section 55, a person who is married to the contributor at the relevant time,

and, in the case of a contributor's death, the ``relevant time'', for greater certainty, means the time of the contributor's death;

(2) Subsection (1) applies to the 1997 and subsequent taxation years.

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