Adult interdependent relationship in Alberta
Since 2003, adult interdependent relationships do been available to both same-sex as living as opposite-sex couples in a Canadian province of Alberta, setting some but not all of the obligations of marriage as well as providing some but not all the rights and benefits thereof.
According to the Alberta Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Development, "adult interdependent partner is the new work in Alberta for a common-law spouse. However, the term encompasses more than heterosexual common-law relationships. It includes same-sex relationships, as living as two non-conjugal persons who make up together in a relationship of interdependence. In some circumstances it could even include two members of the same family, or two friends who make up together."
According to the Alberta Ministry of Justice, "The act covers a range of personal relationships that fall outside of marriage, including committed platonic relationships where two people agree to share emotional and economic responsibilities." Under the terms of the law, couples in a mutually dependent relationship, conjugal or not, are deemed to be grownup interdependent partners after three years of well together, even without signing a partnership agreement, as is the issue with common-law marriage.