Immigration and Canadian Gay Marriage

Once the Civil Marriage Act had been enacted, the CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) made a temporary immigration policy that did not recognize same-sex unions that took place outside of Canada – regardless of whether or not the marriage took place in a another country that also recognized legal same-sex unions. However, in late 2006, Bill Siksay the New Democratic Party MP called on the CIC to "recognize legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples performed in jurisdictions outside Canada for purposes of immigration in exactly the same way as the legal marriages of heterosexual couples are recognized.” One month later, this request was granted.