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The individual-level diffusion process of first marriage and that of first cohabitation have not been studied sufficiently in the literature, and important research questions are left behind such as whether the cohabitation diffuses from the socioeconomic elites or the disadvantaged group, and what is the mechanism of the diffusion of first marriage/cohabitation. These questions invite systematic investigations on the diffusion of these processes. In this study, I use the data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979-2004 (NLSY79) in the United States and the Survey of Labor and Income Dynamics 1993-1998 (SLID93) in Canada to examine the comparative diffusion processes of first marriage (without premarital cohabitation) and first cohabitation. Significant diffusion effects are found in the process of first marriage and that of first cohabitation for both males and females in the US and Canada. And there is evidence that the cohabitation diffusion starts from the socioeconomically disadvantaged group rather than the socioeconomic elites. In addition, it seems plausible that females develops further ahead in the diffusion of partnership transformation as compared with their male counterparts in both the US and Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]