730 day period: total sum of small periods or one continuous period

[Katerina]

Hi everyone!
There's one small but important question of interest to me, many thanks if you can help me with that one.

As per IRPA, to maintain her PR status, a person has to stay in Canada for 730 days in a five years period. Can this period be cumulative of several small periods, or does it have to be one continuous period?

For example, the person entered Canada on November 18, 2006, and left the country on January 2, 2007 (40 days in Canada). Later she visited the country one more time for 40 days, so that she stayed here for 80 days all in all. Does this mean that she needs to stay in the country at least another 650 days in order to maintain her PR status? Or does she still need to enter the country before November 18, 2009, and stay all 730 days at once?

I assume that these 730 days can be combined from several visits, but would like to be sure and not to have problems later. Additional links for official informational sources would be appreciated. Thanks a lot!

[Leon]

It's the sum of small periods.  On the form where you apply to renew your PR card, they actually ask you to tell them how many days you were outside Canada, now how many days you were in.  You have to list each of your absences and add up the total days you were outside Canada and this number can not be more than 1095.

[manushrimali]

Katrina - you can get this info on www.cic.gc.ca