Exceptions to time spent in Canada

[dreamer90]

Happy Canada Day!!

I am eligible to apply for Canadian Citizenship on Oct 23, 2017 based on my calculations and absences.
I became a permanent resident on Oct 3, 2013.
I have been working with the Ontario Public Service (WSIB) for the past year. I was reading the time spent in Canada requirement and it noted that public servants can count time spent outside of Canada toward their physical presence.

My question is, does it have to be conducting business for the provincial public service outside of Canada or once I am employed by the public service I could count personal time spent outside of the country?

Because if I could count personal time spent outside as a Public Servant, I may be eligible to apply sooner, like the first week of Oct. Thanks for any feedback.

 

[scylla]

You have to be conducting business for the provincial public service outside of Canada for the time to count. In other words, if you are relocated to a job outside of Canada as a public servant - you can use that time towards citizenship. If you're outside of Canada for personal reasons (e.g. vacation) - it counts as time outside of Canada and cannot be counted towards the residency requirement for citizenship.

 

[dreamer90]

of Canada as a public servant

thanks for the clarification.

 

[itsmyid]

It is just amazing how questions like this keep getting brought up .... it only needs common sense to answer