PR Residency Obligation: COPR June 2024, PR Card Jan 2025

[Timrepy Duts]

Hi everyone,


I became a Canadian PR on June 6, 2024 based on my COPR/landing date. I stayed in Canada for about one week or so after landing, then left Canada. My PR card was issued on January 1, 2025 and expires on January 1, 2030. I have not returned to Canada since landing, and had a friend deliver my PR card to me.

I am trying to understand the RO in my specific case. Since the PR residency obligation is 730 days in Canada within a 5-year period, am I correct that my first 5-year period is counted from my COPR/landing date, meaning from June 6, 2024 to around June 6, 2029, rather than from the PR card issue date?

Given that I only stayed for about a week after landing, by what latest date would I need to return to Canada and stay continuously in order to still meet the 730-day residency obligation? Is the practical deadline basically around 3 years after my COPR/landing date, because I would need the remaining 2 years to complete the 730 days? Given that my PR card does expire on January 1, 2030. Is it OK if I come back after June 6, 2027, or will the officer not allow me to enter?

I am also planning to start graduate studies in Canada, with my program expected to begin in September 2027. Ideally, I would like to return to Canada near the end of July or beginning of August 2027. Based on my dates, would returning around that time still leave me safely within the residency obligation timeline and help me convince border officer?

Basically, does the PR card expiry date affect this calculation in any way, or is it only a travel document/status card and separate from the residency obligation?

For context, once I move to Canada in mid 2027 I plan to only vacation around once a month at max every year outside of Canada.

I would appreciate any clarification, especially from people who have dealt with RO calculations after landing and then spending time outside Canada.

Thank you.

 

[armoured]

The date on the card is irrelevant except as the final date of validity of that card. There are no 'five year periods'. The only specific date that matters is the day you became a PR (landing date or COPR), which should also be on the back of your card as 'PR since' - and of course the day/date of examination.

Here's the way to calculate: calculate all days OUTSIDE Canada in the last five years; discard any days before you became a PR*; if they total LESS THAN 1095 days, you are in compliance with the RO. (*This discarding of days before you became a PR means that you can just count days outside Canada after becoming a PR - that's the sense in which there is an initial five year period; after the first five years, the calc is always looking back five years from the date of examination/calculation)

You can do the arithmetic yourself but it should be pretty obvious that returning after June 6, 2027 - you will have 1095 days or more outside Canada. In addition, I'd emphasize strongly that most people find that being so close (only having a few weeks of time available for travel outside Canada) is a serious constraint on their lifestyles and problematic. If you plan to travel outside Canada a month a year after this, well, the arithmetic suggests you would be better to return 2-4 months before June 6 for travel and a buffer.

Now note, you CAN return and be out of compliance with the residency obligation. It's just risky and may lead to serious consequences, esp if your life plan involves education in Canada and keeping PR status. That's a whole separate discussion though.

 

[dpenabill]

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I became a Canadian PR on June 6, 2024 based on my COPR/landing date. I stayed in Canada for about one week or so after landing, then left Canada.

I am trying to understand the RO in my specific case.

I would appreciate any clarification, especially from people who have dealt with RO calculations after landing and then spending time outside Canada.

There is no shortage of forum participants who similarly did what many call a "soft-landing" when they became a PR. There are scores and scores of their queries and responses here. I am not among them, but I have been following RO compliance and enforcement, including actual cases as well as anecdotal reports here and elsewhere, for more than a decade and a half (roughly since I became a PR).

Overall, the dates a PR card was issued or expires are not relevant when calculating compliance with the PR Residency Obligation.

What a PR needs to do to stay in compliance with the PR Residency Obligation really is not complicated:

-- do not remain outside Canada for 1095 or more days during the first five years after landing; so, for you, do not remain outside Canada for more than 1095 days between June 6, 2024 and June 6, 2029 (easier to count this way rather than adding days in Canada to days remaining on the calendar to the fifth year anniversary of landing)​

​

-- after the fifth year anniversary (for you that would be June 6, 2029) be physically present in Canada for more than 730 days within any and every five year period of time (or, do not be outside Canada for 1095 or more days within any and every five year period of time)​

Some general examples based on landing date of June 6, 2024:

-- until June 6, 2027 there is no concern the PR is in breach of the RO when they are examined at a Port-of-Entry (PoE) during any arrival here (it would be impossible to be outside Canada for 1095 or more days since landing until after June 6, 2027), but for a PR cutting it close (such as a PR who has spent just a few days here and is not returning here until sometime in 2027, before June 6, 2027, so is approaching being absent for 1095 days) border officials may caution the PR about complying with the RO​

-- for any PoE arrival and examination after June 6, 2027 and before June 6, 2029, being in compliance with the RO depends on the number of days physically in Canada since landing plus the number of days remaining on the calendar until June 6, 2029, and the PR is in compliance if that total is at least 730; many find it easier to keep track of days outside Canada, recognizing that as long as the PR has not been outside Canada for 1095 or more days since landing, that means there are enough days left on the calendar, when added to days in Canada, to add up to at least 730 (five years total 1825 days not counting any February 29)​

​

-- for any PoE arrival and examination after June 6, 2029, being in compliance with the RO will be calculated based on the date of arrival and the five years preceding that date (so a PR would be in breach of the RO if they have spent fewer than 730 days in Canada within that five years, which would be the same as 1095 or more days outside Canada, those being the same thing)​

Some specific examples based on landing date of June 6, 2024:

-- for a PoE examination June 23, 2027, the PR is in compliance with the RO so long as on that day they have not been outside Canada for more than 1095 days since landing, or (again what would be the same) they had been in Canada at least 16 days (approximately, depending on my arithmetic)​

​

-- for a PoE examination April 14, 2029, such as when returning to Canada following a week long holiday abroad, likewise the PR is in compliance with the RO so long as they have not been outside Canada on that day for more than 1095 days since landing​

​

-- for a PoE examination August 19, 2029, the PR is in compliance with the RO so long as they have not been outside Canada on that day for more than 1095 days since August 19, 2024​

If and When the PR Fails to Comply With RO:

Is it OK if I come back after June 6, 2027, or will the officer not allow me to enter?

If you come back to Canada after an absence for 1095 or more days, you will be in breach of the RO. That meets the statutory definition of inadmissible. A PR in breach of the RO is at risk of inadmissibility proceedings any time their RO compliance is assessed, which can happen (but does not necessarily happen even for a PR in breach) during a PoE examination when arriving here.

If you have been in Canada a total of 7 days so far, you will not be in breach, so not at risk, if you arrive here by June 13, 2027 (or so, again my arithmetic can be off a day or so).

Reminder: even if you move here before then, so that you are in compliance with the RO when you arrive, if you later leave Canada for a holiday, to stay in RO compliance return to Canada before the additional days outside Canada exceed 1095.

What does this mean? What is the risk?

A PR, including a PR in breach of the RO, will be (must be) allowed to enter Canada at a PoE once they have established their identity and status; establishing identity is usually sufficient since that means border officials can readily establish the traveler's PR status in GCMS. So, yes, you will be allowed to enter.

As noted, a PR in breach of the RO is at risk of inadmissibility proceedings if their RO compliance is assessed during a PoE examination and it is determined the PR has not complied with the RO.

The worst case scenario is that border officials conduct a RO examination, prepare a report of inadmissibility, and issue a Removal/Departure Order. If that happens, the Removal Order is not enforceable for 30 days or, if there is an appeal, to when the appeal is decided. Meanwhile, the PR will be (must be) allowed to enter Canada.

But the vast majority of PRs arriving at a PoE into Canada are NOT questioned about RO compliance. So for most, most of the time, the odds are good they will be waived through the PoE, no risk then of being "reported" let alone being issued a Removal Order.

Obviously, circumstances indicating a potential RO compliance issue can increase the risk that border officials will make RO compliance inquiries. Thus there is a higher risk of questioning for a PR arriving here after a lengthy absence, especially if approaching three years, and more so if it has been more than three years (which on its face would appear to be a RO breach). There is also the possibility that border officials can readily see a PR's travel history on their computers, which might make it apparent if and where there is a likely RO compliance issue.

Even if questioned about RO compliance in a Secondary immigration examination, that officer has fairly broad discretion in just how far they take the questioning, and there are many anecdotal reports of PRs in breach being waived through, no indication of a 44(1) inadmissibility report. But if the Secondary officer determines there is a RO breach, they are obligated to prepare a report which then goes to another officer (acting in the role of a Minister's Delegate) who reviews the report and interviews the PR to determine if there are sufficient H&C reasons to allow the PR to keep PR status despite the RO breach. That officer decides whether to allow the PR to keep status or to issue a Removal Order. (This review by a second officer is sometimes postponed, the PR allowed to enter Canada, the interview to be done later.)

So it is hard to say what will happen if you breach the RO. Best to not do that.

If you do breach the RO and are nonetheless waived through the border, the way to avoid any further risk of losing PR status is to stay long enough to be in compliance before leaving Canada again and before making a PR card application.

 

[canuck78]

We see this time and time again on this forum. People have a plan that allows them zero flexibility and then life happens and they have to delay their travel to Canada or have to leave for longer than their planned vacation time. Always leave a significant buffer. Anecdotally it appears there is no more enforcement of RO than there was a few years ago and that could get more strict under current or subsequent governments. What was once possible under the Trudeau government is no longer possible in many aspects of immigration.