Hello. Need some help. The Canadian company I work for allowed me to work remotely from my home country during the pandemic. The article from the cic website (https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1466&top=10) suggests that I can claim that time towards my permanent residence status (to meet 1095 days physically present in Canada). I have my T4 form to show I was paid by the company and paid taxes. Does anyone know if that's sufficient or is there more to it? Can I even claim that time? It seems too good to be true
Working Remotely - time towards physical presence
- Thread starter leeni
- Start date
No, you won't be able to claim this time towards PR.
The rules for being able to do so require that your company transfer you to a role outside of Canada for a temporary period to work in their operations in another country.
Chosing to work outside of Canada as a remote worker won't qualify unfortunately.
Sorry, NO, to get the credit for time abroad working for a Canadian business the PR must be *assigned* to a position abroad (and meet other requirements for the credit).
The FAQ information says:
your "time outside of Canada may count toward your permanent resident status if . . . You need to work full-time for a Canadian business or organization."
Two key terms in that statement should be emphasized. It should state:
your "time outside of Canada may count toward your permanent resident status if . . . You need to work full-time for a Canadian business or organization."
Many, typically engaging in wishful thinking, read this as if it says the time *will* count, not that it *may* count, and the FAQ information fails to adequately convey what is required for the employment to meet the *need* to work abroad part. Working abroad remotely will NOT make the cut. Not a close call.
If you (or anyone else) has doubts about this response . . . The Long Explanation:
This credit, and how it is narrowly interpreted and applied, is discussed at length and in depth in several topics here, including for example the topic titled "Maintainence of residency" which is here:
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/maintainence-of-residency.439049/
Also see the topic titled "Working Abroad RO credit, including "business trips;" an update" which is here:
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/working-abroad-ro-credit-including-business-trips-an-update.607559/
While that topic is initially focused on whether working abroad on a "business trip" for a Canadian business can count, it goes into depth to explain how the credit works generally, does not work, and the many pitfalls for a PR hoping to rely on this credit. For example, I reference, cite, and link many official sources, including the applicable statutes, regulations, and official decisions interpreting and applying these, both Federal Court and Immigration Appeal Division decisions.
If you are still in doubt, for reliable accounts of actual cases re working-abroad-credit, see just a few of any of the following official sources:
Federal Court decisions:
Baraily v. Canada (CIC), 2014 FC 460 (CanLII), http://canlii.ca/t/g6z62
Bi v. Canada (CIC), 2012 FC 293 (CanLII), http://canlii.ca/t/fqtsz
Durve v. Canada (CIC), 2011 FC 995 (CanLII), http://canlii.ca/t/fmqvt
Durve v. Canada (CIC), [2015] 2014 FC 874 (CanLII), http://canlii.ca/t/g90xc
He -- Canada (CIC) v. He, 2018 FC 457 (CanLII), http://canlii.ca/t/hrv9t
Jiang -- Canada (CIC) v. Jiang, 2011 FC 349 (CanLII), http://canlii.ca/t/flfrk
Waraich v. Canada (CIC), 2018 FC 307 (CanLII), http://canlii.ca/t/hrbft
IAD decisions:
Adeosun v Canada (CIC), 2018 CanLII 79071 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/htn90
Alkhen v Canada (CIC), 2018 CanLII 107669 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/hw2jt
Belghiti v Canada (Pub Saf.), 2016 CanLII 54523 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/gt2g9
Durve v. Canada (CIC), 2013 CanLII 44900 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/fxgkq
Faeli v. Canada (CIC), 2005 CanLII 56914 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/1rnd9
Falsafi v. Canada (CIC), 2012 CanLII 92972 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/fvr0p
Gencoglu v Canada (CIC), 2016 CanLII 97304 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/gx80k
He v Canada (CIC), 2018 CanLII 118633 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/hwjnm
Imanzadeh v Canada (CIC), 2018 CanLII 102055 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/hvtkg
Janotta v Canada (CIC), 2018 CanLII 41729 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/hrzg5
Kanwal v Canada (CIC), 2018 CanLII 107687 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/hw2kp
Kapoor v Canada (CIC), 2018 CanLII 112319 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/hw8jt
Nagappan v Canada (CIC), 2018 CanLII 117109 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/hwgqs
Okunbo v Canada (CIC), 2018 CanLII 121460 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/hwmzs
Onianwah v Canada (CIC), 2018 CanLII 117112 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/hwgq6
Shah v. Canada (CIC), 2011 CanLII 55976 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/fn1xt
Shen v Canada (CIC), 2017 CanLII 56623 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/h5pqz
Shoaee v Canada (CIC), 2018 CanLII 72635 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/htbx7
Schroeder v Canada (CIC), 2018 CanLII 54709 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/hskn3
Siek v Canada (CIC), 2018 CanLII 79718 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/htnww
Tripathy v Canada (Pub Saf), 2015 CanLII 107860 (CA IRB) http://canlii.ca/t/h30s4
Wang v Canada (CIC), 2018 CanLII 57545 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/hsp86
Wei v Canada (Pub Saf.), 2016 CanLII 92583 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/gwpzn
Xin v Canada (CIC), 2018 CanLII 74069 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/htdrb
Zeng v. Canada (CIC), 2012 CanLII 12935 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/fqkw9
Zhou v Canada (Pub Saf.), 2018 CanLII 27228 (CA IRB), http://canlii.ca/t/hrbbj
Short answer is 'No'. Your employer did not send you abroad to work on a project. Your employer gave you a freedom to go anywhere you wish and work remotely. You elected to go abroad. As such, you can't claim the time spent outside of Canada for the purposes outlined on CIC website.
P.S. That law about RO must be repealed, or amended so it would start making a sense. There is no reason why you should be stripped of your PR status while employed by Canadian business, all the while Canada admits 400,000 new PRs (who never lived/worked in Canada), and takes in large numbers of refugees, many of whom (we are told) don't have any documentation to prove their identity. This is so implausible and counterproductive.