Denied a work permit while applying for PR.

Currently applying for PR under a family sponsorship and my common law partner. We applied for a open work permit a couple of months ago and it was declined today.

The reason given was no Declaration of common law partnership. We are a bit confused by this as this isn't in the document list on the application and it isn't needed for our PR app, which is ongoing. Feels a bit unfair and a waste of money to have this bounced back for a form we where never instructed to complete. Did I just miss something?