I came here on a study permit and have been here for the last 2+ years and I became PR in February 2024.
I lost my PR card this week and after looking at the lost PR card renewal section it says I need to have been in Canada for the last 2 years since I received my PR status. I am lost in how I am meant to get a new card? Do I have to wait until I hit 2 years.
I was planning on travelling this summer and this completely changes all my plans. Is there anyway I can travel?
Does not apply in your case because you became a PR recently and replacement for a lost card. You can apply and not worry at all. Make sure to show it's a replacement of a lost card.
That website text is here:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...ces/new-immigrants/pr-card/who-can-apply.html "To keep your permanent resident status, you must have been in Canada for at least
730 days during the last five years. These 730 days don’t need to be continuous. Some of your time abroad may count towards the 730 days." This requirement to be in Canada a certain number of days is called the residency obligation.
That text is a TERRIBLE and misleading simplification of the residency obligation - so bad they should be embarrassed it's on a government website.
In your case the language above doesnt' apply because you became a PR recently.
In most simple terms, the residency obligation is that you are out of compliance if OUTSIDE Canada MORE than 1095 days in the last five years, OR since you became a PR (if you became a PR less than five years ago). It's this latter part for you that matters - you can't have been outside more than 1095 days since you became a PR four months ago.
[This relates to the 730 days in Canada in five years as follows:
5 years * 365 days - 730 days minimum in Canada = 1095 days outside Canada]
In the official formula in the law, they conceptually give you 'credit' for days remaining to the fifth anniversary of the day you became a PR. This way above of counting no more than 1095 days outside Canada is easier to grasp - IMO - and the PR card renewal form itself asks about 1095 days outside Canada.
