How screwed are we?

[OhCanada77]

Yeah I think knowing if he had a work permit or not is the defining point here

 

[Ponga]

"Over a year ago my husband worked under the table in Canada. He had a work permit but his boss didn't want to go through the processes involved in hiring a foreigner or maybe he wanted to avoid taxes or whatever his reasons, he would not hire him above board."

Unless this was an Open Work Permit, allowing him to work for this person without needing the LMIA...

 

[Aquakitty]

"Over a year ago my husband worked under the table in Canada. He had a work permit but his boss didn't want to go through the processes involved in hiring a foreigner or maybe he wanted to avoid taxes or whatever his reasons, he would not hire him above board."

Unless this was an Open Work Permit, allowing him to work for this person without needing the LMIA...

C'mon OP, don't keep us guessing. What kind of work permit did he have?

 

[mega_option101]

Provided he was allowed to work, as Ponga pointed out.

I was making this assumption (have not been told to the contrary by the OP)

 

[canadianwoman]

There used to be a forum member who posted a lot named rjessome. She is an immigration consultant, and her advice for people in similar circumstances was to just list the job in your employment history, mention it when needed (for example, as part of your history of how you met), and do not go into details about the legality of it. She said that in general the visa officers would not care if someone was working while on a student visa, as long as all other indications were that the relationship is genuine. That is, if the relationship seems to be fake, then working without the proper documentation might be used to bolster their reasons for refusal.