Switch to unmarried partner from student or tourist?

Hi,

I'm at the end of a 6 month student visa, which followed a tourist visa, which followed a working holiday visa.

My british boyfriend and i have been working on an application for a common law spouse (family) visa to Canada, as we thought this was the only way for both of us to work (and not marry, no, not marry).

My student visa evaporates the middle of this month, and I didn't realise until TODAY that the unmarried partner option exists!

We've invested a lot of time and £ in the Canada app so far, with the records check, medical exam - in comparison, the UK one seems pretty straightforward!

Anyone know if I can switch into the unmarried partner category from within the country, from the student visa? Is there an option to switch from the tourist one?

Thanks much,

Nell

I'm looking for the same thing sort of...
I'm going over on a tier 5 visa, then plan on going home for a week, then coming back on a tourist visa.
This will give me the 2 years... but is it possible to switch from a tourist to an unmarried? I've been doing a lot of research into this to find out what I can and can't do...