In the recent Mahabir v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) application for judicial review, the issue of a marriage being genuine or performed for the purpose of acquiring a status or privilege under the Act was explored.
Section 4 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations states that ‘… a foreign national shall not be considered a spouse, a common-law partner or a conjugal partner of a person if the marriage, common-law partnership or conjugal partnership was entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring any status or privilege under the Act or is not genuine’.
In the application, the Honourable Mr. Justice Fothergill ruled that if a marriage is genuine, it will remain so in spite of other family members having different motivations for it. It is the intention of the parties who are married that is more significant than the intention of their respective families. Furthermore, the stronger the evidence regarding the genuineness of the marriage, the less likely it is that it was entered into primarily to obtain an immigration advantage.
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/sor-2002-227/page-3.html#h-