2. Find out your immigration status

You need to know your immigration status in Canada to know what can happen if you separate from your partner. Your status in Canada affects:

• whether you have the right to stay in Canada,
• whether there is a risk you could be forced to leave Canada, and
• what you can do to try and stay.

Check your documents

To find out your immigration status, look at any papers you have from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

For example, you might have documents to show that you:

• are a Canadian citizen
• are a permanent resident
• have a work permit
• have a study permit
• have a visitor visa
• are being sponsored for permanent resident status
• have made a refugee claim
• have made an application for permanent resident status on humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) grounds

Check your application

If you’ve applied to IRCC, you can check to see what’s happening with your application. Some types of applications can be checked online through IRCC’s Client Application Status service. This includes an application for permanent residence.

If you can’t check the status of your application online, you might be able to check it by calling the IRCC Call Centre at 1-888-242-2100 from within Canada.

But if you call IRCC, they might ask you questions. If you make a mistake or say anything that’s not true, this could affect your application or your status in Canada. So you may want to talk to a lawyer before you call.