Help! Mexican & Canadian expecting a child

[Lovemymexican]

My Mexican boyfriend and I recently found out we are expecting a child after spending Christmas together in Mexico. We are planning for him to come to Canada in April and understand that he can legally stay in Canada for 6 months but he will be unable to work.

We are concerned about raising a child on 1 salary and are trying to understand the regulations surrounding work permits, it seems very convuluded and does not look like he will not easily qualify for the permit. Also it appears that you need to have employment arranged to apply for the work permit outside of Canada.

Does CIC take into account special circumstances? Obviously we want to ensure that we can raise our child comfortably and are both able to work.

Will we HAVE to get married in order for him to stay in Canada and be legal to work? Is it possible to start this application before he arrives if we are both in agreement to marry within a certain number of days of his arrival in Canada?
Help, we just want to be a family together and not struggling or asking for assistance from the Government to raise our child.
Any info much appreciated by the 3 of us

 

[anbajwa]

Canadian law recognizes common-law and conjugal partners for immigration sponsorship under family class. The requirement is that the couple must have lived together for 12 months in a row. What you probably want to do is make sure you live together for one year (in Canada or in Mexico) and then apply for his permanent residence. In case he wants to apply for Permanent residence from within Canada, there is a special category for spouses/conjugal partners applying from within Canada which is much faster.