Determining your residency status

Under the Canadian income tax system, your income tax obligations to Canada are based on your residency status. You need to know your residency status before you can know what your tax responsibilities and filing requirements to Canada are. To determine your residency status, all of the relevant facts in your case must be considered, including residential ties with Canada and the length of time, purpose, intent and continuity of the stay while living inside and outside Canada.

Refer to the steps below or click on one of the following buttons to get help determining your residency status for income tax purposes.

Residency status – Entering Canada

Make a selection and scroll down for further questions or results.

Complete Form NR74 for CRA 's opinion on whether you would be considered a deemed non-resident of Canada. For more information, see Deemed non-residents, Residency status determination and Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, Determining an Individual's Residence Status.

You would most likely be considered a resident of Canada (part-year resident for the year of immigration). For more information, see Residency status determination and Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, Determining an Individual's Residence Status. For an official residency determination, complete Form NR74.

Complete Form NR74 to get the CRA's opinion on your residency status.

Complete Form NR74 for CRA's opinion on whether you would be considered a factual resident or a deemed non-resident of Canada. This would be based off the treaty and tie-breaker rules. For more information, see Deemed non-residents, Factual residents – Temporarily outside Canada, Residency status determination and Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, Determining an Individual's Residence Status.

Complete Form NR74 for the CRA 's opinion on whether you would be considered a deemed non-resident of Canada. For more information, see Deemed non-residents, Residency status determination and Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, Determining an Individual's Residence Status.

Residency status – Leaving Canada

Make a selection and scroll down for further questions or results.

You would most likely be considered a factual resident of Canada. For more information, see Factual residents – Temporarily outside of Canada, Residency status determination and Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, Determining an Individual's Residence Status. For an official residency determination, complete Form NR73.

Please complete Form NR73 to get CRA 's opinion on whether you would be considered a deemed non-resident of Canada. For more information, see Deemed non-residents, Residency status determination and Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, Determining an Individual’s Residence Status.

You would most likely be considered a non-resident of Canada on the date you leave Canada, even if your spouse or common-law partner or dependants (or both) leave Canada at a later date. For more information, see Non-residents of Canada, Residency status determination and Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, Determining an Individual's Residence Status. For an official residency determination, complete Form NR73.

You would most likely be considered a non-resident of Canada on the date you sever your ties. For more information, see Non-residents of Canada, Residency status determination and Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, Determining an Individual's Residence Status. For an official residency determination, complete Form NR73.

Complete Form NR73 to get CRA 's opinion on whether you would be considered a factual resident or a deemed non-resident of Canada. This would be based off the treaty and tie-breaker rules. For more information, see Deemed non-residents, Factual residents – Temporarily outside Canada, Residency status determination and Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, Determining an Individual's Residence Status.

You would most likely be considered a non-resident of Canada. For more information, see Non-residents of Canada.

You would most likely be considered a deemed resident of Canada. See Folio S5-F1-C1, Deemed non-residents, paragraph 1.21. For more information, see Deemed residents.

You would most likely be considered a non-resident of Canada (emigrant in the year of departure). For more information, see Non-residents of Canada, Residency status determination and Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, Determining an Individual's Residence Status. For an official residency determination, complete Form NR73.

Complete Form NR73 to get CRA 's opinion on whether you would be considered a deemed resident of Canada. For more information, see Deemed residents, Residency status determination and Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, Determining an Individual's Residence Status.

Complete Form NR73 to get CRA 's opinion on whether you would be considered a non-resident of Canada. For more information, see Non-residents of Canada, Residency status determination and Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, Determining an Individual's Residence Status.

You would most likely be considered a non-resident of Canada (emigrant for the year of departure). For more information, see Non-residents of Canada, Residency status determination and Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, Determining an Individual's Residence Status. For an official residency determination, complete Form NR73.

Steps

Determine if you have residential ties with Canada

The most important thing to consider when determining your residency status in Canada for income tax purposes is whether or not you maintain or establish significant residential ties with Canada.

Residential ties

a home in Canada
a spouse or common-law partner in Canada
dependants in Canada

Secondary residential ties that may be relevant include:

personal property in Canada, such as a car or furniture
social ties in Canada, such as memberships in Canadian recreational or religious organizations
economic ties in Canada, such as Canadian bank accounts or credit cards
a Canadian driver's licence
a Canadian passport
health insurance with a Canadian province or territory

The information above is general in nature. For more information on residential ties, see Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1 , Determining an Individual's Residence Status.

Determine your residency status and its tax implications

If you left Canada

working temporarily outside Canada
teaching or attending school in another country
commuting (going back and forth daily or weekly) from Canada to your place of work in the United States (U.S.)
vacationing outside Canada
spending part of the year in the U.S. , for example, for health reasons or on vacation

You may be considered an emigrant if you left Canada, established a permanent home in another country and severed your residential ties with Canada, ceasing to be a resident of Canada in the tax year.

You may be considered a deemed non-resident of Canada if you established residential ties in a country that Canada has a tax treaty with and you are considered a resident of that country, but you are otherwise a factual resident of Canada, meaning you maintain significant residential ties with Canada. The same rules apply to deemed non-residents as non-residents of Canada.

You are usually considered a factual resident or deemed resident of Canada if you left Canada and you are a government employee outside Canada, which includes members of the Canadian Forces posted abroad. For more information, see Government employees outside Canada.

If you entered Canada

You may be considered an immigrant if you left another country to settle in Canada, established significant residential ties with Canada and became a resident of Canada in the tax year .

You may be considered a deemed non-resident of Canada if you have residential ties in a country that Canada has a tax treaty with and you are considered to be a resident of that country, but you are also a factual resident of Canada because you established significant residential ties with Canada. The same rules apply to deemed non-residents as non-residents of Canada.

You may be considered a deemed resident of Canada if you have not established significant residential ties with Canada to be considered a factual resident, but you stayed in Canada for 183 or more days in the year.

If you normally, customarily or routinely live in another country

You may be considered a non-resident of Canada if you did not have significant residential ties with Canada and one of the following applies:

You lived outside Canada throughout the year (except if you were a deemed resident of Canada)
You stayed in Canada for less than 183 days in the tax year

Forms and publications

Form NR73 , Determination of Residency Status (leaving Canada)
Form NR74 , Determination of Residency Status (entering Canada)
Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1 , Determining an Individual's Residence Status