Leaving Canada
Becoming a non-resident of Canada
There is no form that makes you a non-resident. It is decided by the facts of your life: where your home is, where your family lives, and which ties you keep.
Residential ties
What the Canada Revenue Agency looks at
Residency is assessed on all the facts together. These are the ties that generally matter most.
| Significant ties | A home in Canada that remains available to you, a spouse or common-law partner in Canada, and dependants in Canada. Keeping one of these can on its own point to continued residency. |
|---|---|
| Secondary ties | Personal property such as a car or furniture, social ties such as memberships, economic ties such as Canadian bank accounts and credit cards, a provincial driver’s licence and provincial health coverage. |
| Time in Canada | If you sojourn in Canada for 183 days or more in a year, you can be deemed a resident for that year even without significant ties. |
| Your new country | A genuine residence abroad supports non-residency. Where Canada has a tax treaty with your new country and both could treat you as resident, the treaty’s tie-breaker rules decide. |
No single factor settles it. The same facts can lead to different conclusions depending on the rest of your situation.
Form NR73
Should you ask the CRA for an opinion?
Form NR73, Determination of Residency Status (Leaving Canada), lets you ask the Canada Revenue Agency for its opinion on your residency status after you leave. Filing it is optional.
Whether it is a good idea depends on your facts. For some people it brings certainty. For others it invites questions about ties that are better resolved first. It is a decision to make with the whole picture in front of you, not a formality.
Either way, what protects you is the substance: ties actually closed, a real home and life in your new country, and records that show it. Our article on tax residency versus residence permit explains why a visa abroad is not the same thing as tax residency.
After you leave
Keeping Canadian income as a non-resident
Leaving does not always mean cutting every financial link. It changes how those links are taxed.
Withholding tax
Certain Canadian-source income paid to non-residents, such as dividends and some pension income, is generally subject to withholding tax at 25%, often reduced under a tax treaty. Interest is generally exempt from Canadian non-resident withholding tax, but participating debt interest and certain interest between non-arm’s-length parties can be taxable, subject to applicable exemptions and treaty relief. Source
Rental property
Rent from Canadian real estate is subject to non-resident rules, with options that can change how the tax is calculated and paid. A sale later has its own requirements.
Your company
Where your business is managed and carried on matters as much as where you live. A Canadian company run from abroad needs its own review.
Can I keep a Canadian bank account?
Often yes, as a secondary tie, but you should tell the bank you are a non-resident so the right withholding applies. The overall pattern of ties is what counts.
Can I visit family in Canada after I leave?
Yes. Visits are normal. What matters is keeping them below the level that would make you a deemed resident and not rebuilding significant ties.
Do I need a treaty country?
Not necessarily. Without a treaty, residency is decided under Canadian rules alone: residential ties, and separately the 183-days-or-more rule. With a treaty, tie-breaker rules can resolve dual residency. Both paths need a genuine residence abroad, and a residence permit there does not by itself settle which country may tax you.
Does my spouse have to leave too?
A spouse or common-law partner who stays in Canada is generally a significant residential tie. Families usually plan the move together.
Next step
Close the right ties, in the right order
The Global Strategy Service reviews your ties, your new country and your departure tax together. General information only, not tax or legal advice. Your options depend on facts we have not reviewed yet.