Parental Project and Common-Law Adoption Rights in Quebec

Couples who have lived together for years in Quebec often assume their relationship gives them the same legal standing as a married couple when it comes to adoption. It doesn't — or at least, it didn't until recently. Quebec's treatment of common-law partnerships (called unions de fait, or de facto unions) has historically been very different from most of Canada. A series of legal changes culminating in the 2025 Parental Union (union parentale) reforms has shifted the landscape significantly, but the picture is still not straightforward.

If you're a de facto couple in Quebec considering adoption, understanding the projet parental framework and the June 2025 legal changes is essential before you start the process.

What the Parental Project Actually Means

The projet parental — "parental project" in English — is a concept embedded in Article 538 of the Code civil du Québec. It establishes that filiation (the legal parent-child bond) can be created not just through biological connection or traditional adoption, but through the shared intention of individuals to become parents together.

This concept was originally developed to address assisted reproduction: when two people agree to create a child through a donor or surrogate, that shared intention becomes the legal foundation of their parenthood. Both partners in a parental project can be recognized as legal parents from birth, regardless of biological connection.

In an adoption context, eligibility follows the adoption provisions of the CCQ; Article 538 is not the legal basis for a joint adoption application. Quebec separately recognizes married, civil-union, de facto, and single applicants, subject to the applicable adoption assessment and court requirements.

Quebec recognizes joint adoption by same-sex couples under its adoption framework. The parental-project rules in Article 538 are a separate filiation mechanism rather than the legal basis for a joint adoption application.

Common-Law Couples and Adoption: The Historical Gap

For most of its modern history, Quebec's Code civil drew a sharp distinction between married couples, civil union partners, and de facto (common-law) partners. Married couples and civil union partners had automatic recognition across family law. Common-law partners — even those who had lived together for 20 years and had children — had far fewer automatic rights.

For adoption specifically, common-law couples could pursue adoption together, but their legal standing was weaker in certain respects, and the absence of formal property rights between de facto partners created complications if the adoption relationship broke down or if one partner died.

This created a paradox: a couple in a union de fait could successfully adopt a child together and be named as joint parents on the new birth certificate, but their underlying financial relationship with each other (and the child's relationship to the estate of a deceased partner) was governed by different rules than for married couples.

The 2025 Parental Union Reform

The union parentale (parental union) applies to qualifying de facto couples who become the parents of a child through birth or adoption on or after June 30, 2025. The spouses must live together and present themselves publicly as a couple; the regime does not apply automatically to a common child born or adopted before that date.

Key changes for adopting common-law couples:

Family-residence and patrimony protections. The regime creates a parental-union patrimony that includes family residences, furniture, and vehicles used for family travel, with rules for partition when the union ends. It also provides protections concerning the family residence.

Child-support obligations. The parental-union regime governs rights and obligations between the spouses; it does not change the rights and obligations toward their children, including child-support obligations.

No automatic application to earlier children. For a common child born or adopted before June 30, 2025, the parental-union regime does not apply automatically; the couple may form one voluntarily under the applicable rules.

For families adopting in 2025 or later, this means that a qualifying common-law couple who jointly adopts a child under the applicable adoption framework now has significantly stronger family-law protections than an equivalent couple would have had a year earlier. The adoption still goes through the same DPJ and Court of Quebec process, but the underlying family law context has changed.

Who Qualifies to Apply for Adoption Under Current Quebec Law

Under the current Code civil:

• Married couples, civil union partners, and de facto partners all qualify to submit a joint adoption application
• Same-sex couples have full joint adoption rights identical to opposite-sex couples
• Single individuals can adopt independently (Quebec's Civil Code does not require a couple)
• Applicants must be domiciled in Quebec — this is a jurisdictional requirement, not just a residency preference
• There must generally be at least an 18-year age gap between the adopter and the child, though courts can waive this for stepparent adoptions

The psychosocial evaluation (évaluation psychosociale) for a de facto couple will assess the stability of the relationship and adoption project. Evaluators will examine how long the couple has lived together, whether previous relationships produced children and what those outcomes were, and how the couple has handled significant life stressors. Being in a common-law relationship rather than a civil union or marriage is not a disqualification — the evaluation considers the applicants' readiness and circumstances, not only the legal form of the partnership.

What This Means If You're a De Facto Couple Considering Adoption Now

If you're a common-law couple in Quebec thinking about adoption in 2025 or 2026, the practical implications of the parental union reform are:

1. Your joint adoption application remains structurally the same as it would have been before June 2025 — the process (DPJ, psychosocial evaluation, Court of Quebec) has not changed.

2. Your legal rights as a family after the adoption are now more closely aligned with those of married adoptive couples than they were previously.

3. You should still consult with a family lawyer about whether to formalize your union before or during the adoption process. For some couples, the protections provided by the parental-union regime may be sufficient. For others — particularly those with significant assets or complex situations — a civil union or marriage may provide additional protections.

4. If you're considering an international adoption, the SASIE (Secrétariat aux services internationaux à l'enfant) will assess your relationship as part of your dossier. Some countries of origin have restrictions on adoptions by unmarried couples; the SASIE will identify this for your specific country of interest.

The Quebec Adoption Process Guide covers the full evaluation criteria for de facto couples, including the questions the psychosocial assessor is most likely to raise about the stability of the parental union, and how the 2025 changes affect the financial planning sections of the assessment.

A Note on Stepparent Adoption

Common-law partners who want to adopt their partner's biological child have a separate path under the CCQ — the adoption de l'enfant du conjoint (adoption of the partner's child). This path requires the applicable consents, including the other biological parent's consent where required. The 18-year age gap requirement is typically waived for stepparent adoption, and the court takes a streamlined approach given that the child is already integrated in the family. The parental union framework may affect family-residence, patrimonial, and child-support issues, but it is not a substitute for checking estate planning.

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