The Liberal government has finally repealed the immigration rules that required migrants sponsored by their Canadian spouses to stay in a relationship for two years before earning their permanent residency.

The announcement by Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen on Friday was hailed by migrants’ advocates, who have said the requirement by the previous Conservative government placed sponsored newcomers, especially women, at increased risk of abuse.

“Conditional permanent residence has had a devastating impact on women in abusive relationships, and its elimination can be celebrated by all who oppose violence against women,” said Loly Rico, president of the Canadian Council for Refugees.

“We are very pleased that the Government of Canada has repealed the conditional residence requirement in its entirety,” added lawyer Avvy Go of the Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic.

“The requirement increased the vulnerability of immigrant women who often stayed in abusive relationships out of fear that they would lose their status.”

The conditional permanent resident visa for sponsored spouses came into effect in October 2012 under the Conservative government to deter marriage fraud and marriage of convenience.

Not only did it require the foreign spouse to cohabit with the Canadian sponsor for a minimum of two years to be eligible to keep the permanent resident status, the sponsored spouse was also banned from sponsoring a new spouse within five years of landing in Canada.

The only exception was granted to those who left a relationship because the sponsor had died during the two-year “conditional period” or in cases of abuse or neglect. Getting rid of the requirement was part of the Liberals’ immigration platform in the 2015 election.

Hussen said the large majority of spousal sponsorships are made in good faith and the relationships are genuine.

“We’re doing away with a measure that could have made a bad situation worse by possibly making people feel they needed to stay in abusive situations just to keep their status in Canada,” Hussen told a news conference in Toronto.

Maryam Monsef, Minster of Status of Women, agreed.

“Our government is committed to advancing gender equality and to reducing gender-based violence,” said Monsef. “By eliminating conditional permanent residence, we can help ensure that people coming to Canada are kept safe from gender-based violence as they seek a chance at a better life.”

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According to a University of Toronto study led by social work professor Rupaleem Bhuyan in 2015, women made up 64 per cent of sponsored spouses with conditional permanent residence, many of them from countries in the Middle East and South Asia.

In its first two years of operation, government data showed only 57 women submitted applications asking for exception to the two-year requirement based on a relationship of abuse and neglect. Of the 57 requests, 75 per cent were successful.