Hello All,
My mother was landed in Oct 2021 (PR status started from the day of landing on the PR card). She left in 2023 from Canada , so stayed 620 days from 2021.
Now I'm planning to bring her again to complete 730 days in Canada before we apply the renewal.
My confusion is ,
1) should I consider landing date (Oct 2021) and calculate the 730 days until October 2026 or her PR card expiry date is February 2027 ?
2) 4 months is short towards October 2021 landing date, if she completed this 4 months between March - July 2026.. can we apply renewal in August or wait until October?
It is OK to apply when the PR is in compliance with the PR Residency Obligation. (If the PR is in Canada and the PR card is expiring soon . . . applying less than six months before the card expires is fine.)
The PR card application will do the calculation, whether done online or using the pdf form.
It calculates days outside Canada rather than days in Canada. Just enter travel history (completely and accurately of course) and the application totals the number of days outside Canada. If the total number of days outside Canada totals 1095 days or more, the application cautions that the PR may not meet the RO . . . which is something of an understatement since
if the total is1095 days or more the PR is in breach of the RO unless they are entitled to credit for days outside Canada under one of the exceptions (such as accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse).
Basis for the RO compliance calculation:
Prior to the fifth year anniversary of landing (for your mother that would be some day in October this year per your information), a PR is in compliance with the RO so long as they have not been outside Canada for 1095 days or more since the day they landed.
(Note: This is the same as calculating they can be IN Canada at least 730 days by the fifth year anniversary of landing, counting days in Canada so far plus days remaining to the fifth year anniversary.)
After the fifth year anniversary of landing, a PR is in compliance so long as they have not been outside Canada for 1095 days or more within the five years immediately preceding the date they make the PR card application.
(Note: This is the same as calculating being IN Canada at least 730 days within this time period.)
Applying this to your mother . . .
As long as she returns to Canada BEFORE she has been outside Canada for 1095 or more days since the day she landed, she is in compliance with the RO and can apply for the PR card after her arrival here. So if she is here in August (and has not been outside Canada for 1095 or more days since the day she landed) it is OK to make the PR card application then.
That said, given her long term residence outside Canada until recently, it would probably be prudent to be well-established in residing back in Canada before making the application. This is not necessary but it could improve the odds the application is approved quickly.
Caution / Reminder:
Given the length of time outside Canada until recently, leaving Canada after making the PR card application for a significant period will increase the risk of non-routine processing which may cause some delay and can potentially result in being required to pick-up the PR card in person. This would still be OK, just an inconvenience, so long as she returns to Canada BEFORE being outside Canada for more than 1095 days within the previous five years (or since landing if she returns before the October anniversary of landing).
Beyond that, as many in this forum will remind PRs, the RO is a rolling requirement.
What that means for your mother is that beginning in October she will be losing a day's credit for each day for the next 620 days (as days more than five years ago cease to count). So long as she is staying in Canada, no problem as she will be also gaining a day's credit each of those days . . . but to be clear, that is as long as she is staying in Canada . . . so for next 620 days after the 5th anniversary of her landing, her RO calculation will stay precisely the same day to day . . . until the summer of 2028.
For example: if as of November 1, 2026 she has been in Canada 815 days within the previous five years (1010 days outside Canada) and she does not leave Canada for the next year and a half, that will be the calculation as well for March 15, 2027, and August 9, 2027, and January 23, 2028 . . . that is, as of any of those days her RO compliance calculation would be 815 days in Canada credit toward meeting the RO.
The practical impact of this is that in order to avoid breaching the RO, for the next two years she cannot travel outside Canada for more than around three months
total (maximum 84 days in the example). To be clear, even if she has a brand new PR card still valid for several more years, if she is outside Canada for more than a total of 1095 days during the previous five years when she arrives at a Port-of-Entry, returning to Canada, she would be in breach of the RO and at risk of being subject to inadmissibility proceedings.
