Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Union: IMM 5409, ISP-3004 and ISP-3104

Last updated: October 20, 2026

Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Union: IMM 5409, ISP-3004 and ISP-3104

Quick answer: A statutory declaration of common-law union is a signed statement in which you, and usually your partner, declare that you have lived together in a conjugal relationship since a stated date. Three federal forms carry that exact name. IMM 5409 is IRCC's: both partners sign it in front of a notary public or commissioner, who completes the "Declared before me" block. Service Canada's ISP-3004 (both partners sign) and ISP-3104 (one signer) are for Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security files, and their current versions have no commissioner block: you sign them and mail them. Minute Notary commissions the IMM 5409 by video with both partners on one call, from anywhere in Canada, or in ink on a mobile visit in Ontario, for $24.95 per partner plus HST.

Couples usually meet this form name in the middle of something larger: a sponsorship, a permanent residence application, a pension-sharing request, a benefits enrolment at work. The trouble is that "statutory declaration of common-law union" is not one form. It is the title of three different federal forms, plus whatever an employer or insurer prints under a similar heading, and each one has its own rules about who signs and whether an official has to be in the room.

This guide sorts out which form you have, walks through the IMM 5409 box by box, explains the two Service Canada versions, and covers how two partners get the IRCC form commissioned, online or in person.

Key Takeaways

What Is a Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Union?

It is a written statement of fact that you make solemnly, instead of under oath, with the same legal effect. The IMM 5409 closes with the words of the federal form in section 41 of the Canada Evidence Act: "We make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing it to be true, and knowing that it is of the same force and effect as if made under oath." The fact you declare is that two named people have lived together in a conjugal relationship, a marriage-like relationship, continuously since a given date.

The declaration exists because nothing else proves a common-law relationship. A married couple has a marriage certificate. A common-law couple has no certificate, no registration and no record anywhere in Ontario that says they are a couple, so the government offices that need to know ask both partners to declare it and then look at supporting documents: a joint lease, shared bills, joint accounts, insurance naming each other.

The length of time you must have lived together depends on who is asking. For the three federal forms in this guide it is the same: at least one year.

Ontario family law runs on its own clock for spousal support, and its property-division rules do not cover common-law couples at all; none of that changes which form you file. Our guide to common law in Ontario walks through it.

Which Form Do You Need?

Use the form the office asking for it names. The table covers the three federal forms with this title and the forms people often confuse with them.

Three practical rules follow from the table.

1. The office decides the form. IRCC asks for the IMM 5409. Service Canada names the ISP-3004 in its own applications: question 21 of the CPP pension-sharing application (ISP-1002) says to complete it, and the GIS and Allowance statement of income (ISP-3026) requires it if you became common-law in the last 18 months. A sworn IMM 5409 does not stand in for either.
2. Read the bottom of the form. A block that starts "Declared before me" or "Sworn before me", with a line for an official's signature, means the form is commissioned. No block means your own signatures finish it.
3. No form named? Use a general declaration. Our free statutory declaration of common-law partnership template is a starting point for an employer, insurer or landlord who just wants "a statutory declaration".

If your file is an IRCC sponsorship, our IMM 5409 guide for sponsorship files covers how the declaration fits with the rest of the application and where an authorized representative comes in.

How to Fill Out the IMM 5409, Box by Box

Who completes it comes straight from IRCC's form page: when the sponsor's common-law partner co-signs a sponsorship, "the sponsor and their common-law partner must complete this form"; when the person being sponsored has a common-law partner, "the person being sponsored and their common-law partner must complete this form". Other IRCC applications list it in their document checklists when a common-law partner is involved. The page also says the form "must be completed and signed with handwritten signatures".

The example below follows one couple: Daniel Reyes and Aisha Rahman, who live in Hamilton, Ontario, and moved in together on November 1, 2023. Prefer to type it with guidance? Our free IMM 5409 template builds the same declaration step by step.

1. Country and province of current residence

The two boxes at the top, marked "(IF APPLICABLE)", are where you live now. IRCC's instructions call them "Country of current residence" and "Province/state/territory of current residence".

Example: Canada, Ontario.

2. "We, … and …": both names, as on your passports

The opening line names both declarants: "full name of declarant as shown on passport/travel document" and the same for the declarant's partner. Copy each name exactly as it appears on the passport, including middle names, and use the same spelling as everywhere else in the application. IRCC's instructions do not say which partner goes first; keep the same order in section 5 at the bottom.

Example: "We, Daniel Alejandro Reyes and Aisha Rahman".

3. Where you live: city, county, province, country

"(name of city, town, village)", "county of (if applicable)", "(name of province, state, territory)" and "in the country of". The county box is only for an address that has one; a single-tier city such as Hamilton, Toronto or Ottawa leaves it blank.

Example: "of Hamilton, county of (blank), in Ontario in the country of Canada".

4. How long, and from when to when

"…solemnly declare that we have cohabited in a conjugal relationship for ⟨number of years⟩ continuous year(s) from ⟨YYYY-MM-DD⟩ to ⟨YYYY-MM-DD⟩". The start date is the day you began living together as a couple, not the day you met, and it has to match every other date in your application. IRCC sets no rule for the end date of a relationship that is still going on; the declaration speaks as of the day you sign, so the signing date is the natural answer. The number of years must agree with the two dates.

Example: "for 3 continuous year(s) from 2023-11-01 to 2026-11-01", the day they will sign.

Caption: The start date is the one IRCC compares across the whole application. Decide it once and use it everywhere.

5. Question 1: lease, property, accounts, tax returns

Four yes-or-no questions about the two of you, together:

• 1a. You "have jointly signed a residential lease, mortgage or purchase agreement relating to a residence in which we both live".
• 1b. You "jointly own property other than our residence".
• 1c. You "have joint bank, trust, credit union or charge card accounts".
• 1d. You "have declared our common-law union under the Canadian Income Tax Act (T-1 'General - Individual Income Tax Return')". It asks about your Canadian tax returns: tick Yes only if they show you as living common-law.

Answer what is true on the day you sign. A No is not a mark against you; it is what question 4 is for.

6. Questions 2 and 3: life insurance

Question 2: you have life insurance on yourself naming your partner as beneficiary. Question 3: your partner has life insurance on themselves naming you. The questions do not separate a personal policy from group life insurance through work; what matters is whose name is on the beneficiary designation.

7. Question 4: other evidence, if you answered No

IRCC's instruction: "If you answered 'no' to questions 1 to 3, indicate other documentary evidence you have that would indicate your relationship as common-law partners." List documents, with dates, not descriptions of the relationship.

Example: "Utility bills in both names at our Hamilton address since November 2023; both Ontario driver's licences show that address; shared mobile phone plan since January 2024; mail addressed to both of us at that address."

8. Section 5: the solemn declaration and your two signatures

Section 5 repeats both names "as shown on passport/travel document", next to "Signature of declarant" and "Signature of declarant's partner". Type the names; leave both signature lines blank. You sign them at the appointment, after the declaration is administered, in front of the official.

9. "Declared before me": leave it all blank

The last block belongs to the official: "Declared before me at (City, Town, Village)", county, province, country, "this (day) day of (month) of the year", then the official's name, a title chosen from "Notary Public", "Commissioner of Oaths" and "Commissioner of Taking Affidavits", and their signature. The place and the date are where and when you declare, so they are only known at the appointment. On a video appointment the notary also records that the declaration was taken remotely under Ontario's rules and where each of you was.

Before you print or upload it

• Both names exactly as on the passports, in the same order at the top and in section 5.
• Country and province of current residence filled in at the top.
• The start date matches the rest of your application, and the number of years matches both dates.
• Every Yes in questions 1 to 3 is true today; question 4 answered if they are all No.
• Both signature lines and the whole "Declared before me" block empty.
• "Validate" pressed at the top of the form. IRCC says it flags missing information with a pop-up; it does not produce a barcode.
• The current revision, IMM 5409 (01-2023), downloaded from IRCC.

Service Canada's ISP-3004 and ISP-3104

The two Service Canada forms are titled "Statutory Declaration of Common-law Union" and filed "In the Matter of the Canada Pension Plan and the Old Age Security Act". They ask much the same questions as the IMM 5409, with two differences that matter: one of them is signed by one person only, and neither has a commissioner block.

Box by box, both forms follow the same order:

1. Social Insurance Number, top right.
2. The venue: "Canada, Province or Territory of", then your name, your city, town or village, your county and your province or territory.
3. The declaration: that you and your named common-law partner have lived together for a number of continuous years, from one date to another, in YYYY-MM-DD format.
4. Question 1, children of the union, including adopted children and a child of one partner for whom the other acts or has acted as a parent: first name, legal last name, the last name commonly used, and date of birth for each.
5. Question 2: a jointly signed lease, mortgage or purchase agreement; jointly owned property other than your home; joint bank, trust, credit union or charge card accounts.
6. Questions 3A and 3B: life insurance naming each other as beneficiary.
7. Question 4: other documentary evidence if none of the above applies.
8. Signatures: yours, and on the ISP-3004 your partner's. If someone else completed and signed the form for you, that person fills in the section below the signatures and sends proof of their authority.

The form ends with this note, which is the reason to take it as seriously as a sworn one: "If you make a false or misleading statement, you may be subject to an administrative monetary penalty and interest, if any, under the Canada Pension Plan or the Old Age Security Act, or may be charged with an offence."

The current versions do not ask for a notary. There is no "Declared before me" block and no line for an official anywhere on them, and Service Canada's current OAS toolkit asks only for "a statutory declaration of your union and another proof of the relationship". Older guidance was stricter: the 2018 edition of that toolkit said the ISP-3004 "must be witnessed by a Commissioner of Oaths (offered for free in a Service Canada Office)". So sign the current form, and if the office handling your file asks for it commissioned, ask them where; a Service Canada office is the first place to try.

Send it with the application it supports to the Service Canada office for your postal code; the mailing list is on page 2 of the PDF. In Ontario, postal codes starting with K or P go to the Timmins office and those starting with L, M or N go to Scarborough. From outside Canada, send it to the office in the province where you last lived.

If the relationship has ended and Service Canada needs the separation date, its form is a different one: ISP-1811, Statutory Declaration – Separation of Legal Spouses or Common-law Partners. For anyone else who needs that date in writing, our statutory declaration of separation template is the general version.

Caption: The Service Canada versions are signed at home and mailed with the pension application. No official signs them.

Other Places That Ask You to Prove a Common-Law Relationship

The CRA. You do not file a declaration with the CRA. You report your marital status on your income tax return, or tell the CRA about a change with Form RC65, Marital Status Change.

Employer benefits, insurers and pension plans. Most have their own common-law declaration form for adding a partner to health and dental coverage or naming a beneficiary. Use theirs. Whether it needs a commissioner depends on the form: look for the "Declared before me" or "Sworn before me" block. A plan that asks for "a statutory declaration" with no form takes a general one.

OSAP. Ontario's student aid program uses its own common-law status document, which is sworn. Our OSAP affidavit guide covers it.

A foreign authority. A consulate or a registry outside Canada may want a wet-ink original and an apostille rather than a remotely commissioned PDF. Ask them first; our guide to documents for use overseas explains the chain.

Who Signs, and When Both Partners Must Be There

IMM 5409: both partners, one sitting. The form has one "Declared before me" block with one place, one date and one official, so both partners declare together. Together does not have to mean the same room. On a video appointment each partner can join from a different address, a different city, or a different country, and the notary records where each of you was.

A partner abroad. IRCC's form page has no rule for a partner outside Canada. The cleanest route is one video call with both of you on it, each showing a passport; Canadians and foreign nationals abroad can join an Ontario commissioner's call, as our guide to signing from outside Canada explains. If your representative prefers that the partner abroad declare before a local official, follow your representative.

ISP-3004: both partners, any time. With no official's block, each partner signs when convenient, at home.

ISP-3104: you alone. It is built for the case where your partner cannot sign.

Getting the IMM 5409 Commissioned, Online or in Person

The IMM 5409 is a solemn declaration, so an Ontario commissioner can take it remotely under O. Reg. 431/20, made under the Commissioners for Taking Affidavits Act. Minute Notary does it two ways.

Online, step by step:

1. Fill in the IMM 5409 on a computer, press Validate, and leave both signatures and the "Declared before me" block empty.
2. Contact us to book and upload the unsigned form.
3. Both partners join the same video call, each with a passport or other current government photo ID.
4. The notary confirms who you are and that you each understand what you are declaring, then administers the solemn declaration.
5. Each partner draws their signature by hand on the screen while the notary watches.
6. The notary completes the "Declared before me" block, signs and seals, and you receive the commissioned PDF.

About "handwritten signatures". IRCC's page says the form "must be completed and signed with handwritten signatures", and some of its checklists go further: the parents and grandparents checklist (IMM 5771) says it is "signed by hand and dated by the sponsor, co-signer and the administrator of the declaration", and that an officer may ask for "an original form with the original handwritten signature(s)". On the video appointment your signature is drawn by hand on the screen, not typed, but IRCC does not say whether it treats a hand-drawn electronic signature as signed by hand. Ink on paper, in front of the official, is the only version that meets every one of those sentences word for word. If you want no doubt at all, or your representative asks for ink, book a mobile visit and sign the printed form.

Caption: One call, two places. The partner abroad declares on the same call, and the notary records where each of you was.

What a Notary Can and Cannot Do

What a notary can and cannot do: A notary public checks both partners' government photo ID, administers the solemn declaration, watches both signatures, completes the "Declared before me" block and seals it. A notary does not fill in your answers, choose your start date, decide whether you meet IRCC's or Service Canada's definition of common-law, or review your evidence. Advice on an immigration application is reserved by section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for authorized representatives: lawyers, Quebec notaries, licensed paralegals and regulated immigration consultants.

Common Mistakes

• Using the wrong office's form. An IMM 5409 sent to Service Canada, or an ISP-3004 sent to IRCC, comes back. Match the form to the office.
• Paying to have the ISP-3004 notarized before anyone asks. The current version has no commissioner block. Sign it and mail it; if Service Canada wants it commissioned, ask them where first.
• Signing before the appointment. A declaration is made in front of the official. A page signed at home has to be printed and signed again.
• Names that do not match the passports. IRCC asks for names "as shown on passport/travel document", in both places on the form.
• A start date that disagrees with the rest of the file. The IMM 5409, the relationship forms and the application should all show the same date.
• Ticking 1d because you file taxes. It asks whether you have declared your common-law union on your returns, not whether you file.
• Leaving question 4 empty after answering No to everything. That box is where your evidence is named.
• Booking one partner at a time. The IMM 5409 has one "Declared before me" block, so both partners declare at the same sitting.
• Reusing a saved copy. Download the current revision from IRCC or Service Canada each time.

Pricing

Minute Notary charges a flat $24.95 per signer plus HST, the same rate for every declaration.

Online appointments add a card processing fee, shown in full before you pay.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a statutory declaration of common-law union need to be notarized?

Only IRCC's IMM 5409 always needs a commissioner: it ends in a "Declared before me" block for a notary public, commissioner of oaths or commissioner for taking affidavits. Service Canada's current ISP-3004 (2025-07-04) and ISP-3104 (2025-02-13) have no such block, so your own signatures complete them unless the office handling your file asks for a commissioned copy. An employer's or insurer's form needs a commissioner only if it prints a "Declared before me" or "Sworn before me" block.

Who can sign the IMM 5409 as the official?

The IMM 5409 is declared before a notary public, a commissioner of oaths or a commissioner for taking affidavits, the three titles printed on the form. In Ontario every lawyer and licensed paralegal is a commissioner for taking affidavits by virtue of office (O. Reg. 386/12), and a notary public such as Minute Notary can commission it by video under O. Reg. 431/20. Outside Canada, a notary public or equivalent official where you sign takes the declaration.

Is there a common-law certificate in Ontario?

Ontario does not register common-law relationships and issues no common-law certificate, so there is nothing to order from ServiceOntario. You prove the relationship with a statutory declaration of common-law union, on the form the receiving body names, plus documents such as a joint lease, shared bills and joint accounts.

What date goes in the "to" box on the IMM 5409?

IRCC's instructions only ask for the "Date of the relationship (from-to)" and set no rule for a couple who still live together. The declaration speaks as of the day you declare it, so the natural reading is the signing date. Whatever you write, the number of continuous years must match the two dates, and the start date must match the rest of your application. If a representative runs your file, use their instruction.

Do we have to show the notary our lease, bank statements or insurance?

The notary checks each partner's government photo ID and administers the declaration; your evidence goes to IRCC, not to the notary. The yes-or-no answers about a joint lease, property, accounts, tax returns and life insurance are part of what you declare, so each one has to be true on the day you sign. Bring originals only if you also want certified copies.

My partner is outside Canada. How do we complete the IMM 5409?

The IMM 5409 has one "Declared before me" block, so the simplest route is one video appointment with both partners on the same call, the partner in Canada and the partner abroad each showing a passport; the notary records where each of you was. IRCC's form page gives no rule for a partner abroad, so if your representative wants each partner to declare where they live, follow that instead.

Can we sign the IMM 5409 at separate appointments or with different notaries?

Not on one page. The IMM 5409 ends in a single "Declared before me" block with one place, one date and one official, so both partners declare at the same sitting. That sitting can be one video call with each partner in a different city or country. Service Canada's ISP-3004 is different: it has no official's block, so each partner can sign it when convenient.

Can I send IRCC the Service Canada form, or Service Canada the IMM 5409?

Each office asks for its own form: IRCC lists the IMM 5409, and Service Canada's applications name the ISP-3004, for example question 21 of the ISP-1002 pension-sharing application. The forms ask similar questions, but a sworn IMM 5409 does not replace an ISP-3004, so complete the one the application names. If you are unsure, the office that asked decides.

Is it one fee or two when both partners sign the IMM 5409?

Two, because two people declare: Minute Notary charges $24.95 for the first partner and an additional-signer fee of $24.95 for the second, plus HST, in one appointment. Online appointments add a card processing fee, shown before you pay. A mobile visit anywhere in Ontario adds a $60 travel fee within 30 km of our nearest office in Ottawa or Toronto.

Is a common-law affidavit the same as a statutory declaration of common-law union?

Both are sworn or solemnly declared statements of fact, commissioned the same way, but they are different documents: a statutory declaration is used for administrative files such as IRCC and pensions, while an affidavit is usually for a court or a body that asks for one by name, such as OSAP's common-law affidavit. Use the document the receiving body names. Our guide to the statutory declaration online sets out the difference.

Final Recommendation

Start with the office that asked. IRCC means the IMM 5409, declared by both partners before an official. Service Canada means the ISP-3004 or ISP-3104, which you sign and mail without a notary. An employer, insurer or landlord means their form, or a general declaration if they have none.

For the IMM 5409, settle the start date first and use it everywhere, fill in the form on a computer, press Validate, and book one appointment for both of you: by video if you are apart, or a mobile visit if you want ink on paper to match IRCC's "signed by hand" wording exactly. The commissioning itself takes minutes.

Book Your Appointment

Need the IMM 5409 or a general statutory declaration of common-law union commissioned? Minute Notary does it by secure video with both partners on one call, or on a mobile visit anywhere in Ontario: $24.95 per partner plus HST.

• Request an appointment: Contact us
• Call: (613) 434-5555
• Service page: Statutory declarations, commissioned online
• Free templates: IMM 5409 · General common-law declaration
• Related guide: IMM 5409 for sponsorship files
• Related guide: Relationship proof for spousal sponsorship
• Hours: Every day, Saturday and Sunday included, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM (Ottawa time)

This article is general information about published federal forms, not legal or immigration advice. IRCC and Service Canada decide whether you meet their definition of common-law and what they accept.

Sources

• IRCC: Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Union (IMM 5409), form page and instructions
• IMM 5409 (01-2023) E, PDF
• IRCC: Document checklist, sponsor parents and grandparents (IMM 5771), PDF
• Service Canada: ISP-3004, Statutory Declaration of Common-law Union (Dual signatures)
• Service Canada: ISP-3104, Statutory Declaration of Common-law Union (Single signature)
• Service Canada: ISP-1002, Application for Canada Pension Plan Pension Sharing of Retirement Pension(s)
• Service Canada: ISP-3026, Statement of Income for the GIS, the Allowance or Allowance for the Survivor
• Service Canada: ISP-1811, Statutory Declaration – Separation of Legal Spouses or Common-law Partners
• ESDC: Old Age Security toolkit (current edition)
• ESDC: Old Age Security toolkit, 2018 edition, PDF
• Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, s. 1(1), "common-law partner"
• Canada Pension Plan, s. 2(1), "common-law partner"
• Income Tax Act, s. 248(1), "common-law partner"
• Canada Evidence Act, s. 41, solemn declaration
• Family Law Act (Ontario), s. 29
• CRA: Form RC65, Marital Status Change
• O. Reg. 431/20: Administering Oath or Declaration Remotely
• Commissioners for Taking Affidavits Act (Ontario)
• O. Reg. 386/12: Commissioners and Other Persons Who May Take Affidavits
• Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, s. 91