diptu said:
Hi kateg,
Thanks for the information.
I was told days will be counted from the day I landed. Just wanted to confirm that days will be counted till the expiry of the card and not the day of landing.
Should I take any proof of residence when i leave, i have a drivers license and a health card. Should i take a copy of my rent agreement with me when i leave canada?
There are two rules for counting:
1) For the first five years since landing, you need to demonstrate that you
could meet the five years.
2) After the first five years, you need to demonstrate that you did meet the five years, in the past five years.
Pragmatically, the agents at the border will tend to go off those dates, because that is what they see at primary. They will likely do the math similarly to how I did it.
If you landed in October, and returned in October, then you are going to be plus or minus a few days in whether you can make the cutoff. If it's on the minus side, you technically could lose your permanent residency. As the other poster said, exact dates would help.
That being said, when you go to primary the officers generally look and see if your card has two years or less on it. If it has more than two years, they ignore residency, and if it has less, they start to pay attention. You're right at the border, and unless they take the time to dig, looking at your card they will see more than two years on your card.
Should they bother to dig, they tend to be more forgiving of people on their first PR card, as it can take time to get established in Canada. They are also lot more forgiving of people short a day or two than people significantly short.
My advice (for what it is worth) is that it is highly likely you will be fine. I would, however, recommend that you defer your trip if you can until you have enough time. It should only take a couple days - as long as you
can have two years in the first five years, you are free to enter and leave without risk.
