Yes, you
can travel outside of Canada while waiting for your first PR card, but there’s a catch — you
can’t use commercial airlines to re-enter Canada without it (unless you're from a visa-exempt country
and have an eTA).
If you leave before your PR card arrives and need to come back, you’ll have to apply for a
Permanent Resident Travel Document (PRTD) at the nearest Canadian visa office in the country you’re visiting. That can take a few days to process, and not all offices are fast.
When I landed, I had to leave the country briefly for a family matter, and my PR card hadn’t arrived yet. I ended up using a
PRTD to re-enter. Super important to plan this in advance — especially if you're traveling for business or medical reasons.
On a side note, I actually work with a Toronto-based airport transport business —
torontoairportlimo.limo. We’ve had a few newcomers use us for airport pickups because they were nervous about showing up without proper re-entry documents. It’s wild how many people don’t realize how strict the rules are until they’re already abroad.
So yep — you
can travel, but make sure you understand the re-entry process. PRTD is your backup until that first PR card shows up in the mail.
