Still Conjugality: Alberta's Adult Interdependent Relationships Act at 20

Alberta’s Adult Interdependent Relationships Act was ground-breaking as Canada’s first and, to date, only legislation recognizing non-conjugal relationships. So far, scholars of alternative relationship recognition have assumed that the Act expanded the kinds of relationships we recognize in law — namely, non-conjugal ones. However, the analysis I present shows that this is inaccurate as non-conjugal couples are often denied recognition under the Act, which has become a highly important part of the landscape protecting unmarried (“common law”) conjugal couples after relationship breakdown. The article ends with a theoretical exploration into the future of scholarly arguments to recognize non-conjugal relationships and families, suggesting that previous choice-based arguments are not enough and must be supplemented with an analysis that troubles recognition and centres family law’s distributive functions.