Canadian Common-Law partner and permanent residence

Hi everyone,

I would like to ask for advice. I currently live with my Canadian common-law partner in Dublin, Ireland. He has a permanent residence card here in Ireland, however, we have been thinking about moving to Canada. I have previously lived with him there for a year on a temporary work permit (after which we moved to Ireland).

From what I understand, it's possible to sponsor your common-law partner to Canada. However, the question is, can we apply for my permanent residence to Canada while we both live abroad? We would obviously want to move there together and if he goes before me, we would stop being in a common-law relationship, thus making the sponsorship obsolete.

If we were to apply for this sponsorship, is it possible for me to go with him to wait for the decision on the permanent residence application? If so, what should I do and what kind of visa should I get in order to do that?

Any help is much appreciated! Thanks in advance!