With respect to the recognition of marriages that take place outside Canada, and for the purposes of immigration to Canada, marriage means “a marriage that is valid both under the laws of the jurisdiction where it took place and under Canadian law.”93 Canadian legal prohibitions with respect to marriage apply for persons seeking a visa to enter Canada.94 Therefore, a polygamous marriage entered into by stateless persons outside Canada would not be recognized under Canadian law. This would nonetheless comply with Article 12(2) of the 1954 Convention, as the non-recognition of polygamous marriages is permissible for reasons of public order, and furthermore, the non-recognition is not specific to whether or not the person is stateless. For marriages between non-resident persons in Canada, a marriage “performed in Canada and that would be valid in Canada if the spouses were domiciled in Canada is valid for the purposes of Canadian law even though either or both of the spouses do not, at the time of the marriage, have the capacity to enter into it under the law of their respective state of domicile.”95 One such example is a marriage performed in Canada between same sex persons, when the marriage would not be recognized in the state of the couple’s domicile. III. Assessment In light of the above legal principles pertaining to personal status and legislation regarding marriage, it appears that the Canadian legal framework is compatible with Article 12 of the 1954 Convention. However, since this section is not able to review the law relating to personal status on all matters identified in the Commentary, future research could assess and confirm whether the Canadian legal framework related to those legal aspects also comply with Article 12 of the 1954 Convention. IV. 7) Recommendations Further research should be conducted on the following matters, in order to confirm that the Canadian legal framework concerning “personal status” is compatible with Article 12 of the 1954 Convention: • The age of majority • The rights of persons under age • Capacity of married women • The instances when a person may lose legal capacity • Divorce • Recognition and adoption of children • The powers of parents over their children and mutual rights to support, • The mutual rights of spouses to property • Who succeeds whom • What are the consequences of a will, and IRPR, supra note 21 at s. 2. See Citizenship and Immigration Canada, “OP 2 Processing Members of the Family Class”, 14 November 2006, available at: http://tinyurl.com/cl4h8ry. 95 Civil Marriage Act, supra note 87 at s. 5(1). 93 94 22