US Citizen Working Remotely from Canada

[NateAlexander]

So I've been doing a lot of research these past few months as I am in training with a US Employer to work remotely from home. My partner resides in Canada as a Citizen, and our intent is to be able to experience living together for a year before making any decisions on who immigrates where upon our decision to get married. My biggest questions are:

• Can I work remotely while living in Canada?
• Should I be looking into any sort of Visas or Permits to accomplish this?
• Would I need to pay taxes in both countries, or one?
• If I'm not planning to work for any Canadian country, where do I start and what do I need to do to get on the path to living in Canada as a US Citizen who works for a US Company?

I will not be "competing" for labor within Canada in any circumstance, and I will not be the "Head of household" in any regard. I do not plan to stay for more than a year without making a decision on whether to become a citizen or return to the US. My partner and I are not common-law partners and we're not married/engaged in any sense. I want to avoid any unneeded Visas, as I don't NEED one to visit Canada for up to 6 Months. I delved into the "Temporary Visitor" and "Temporary Resident" status, but it just doesn't seem to fit. I want to stay employed with my current company, who allows me to work anywhere as my home is my office, but I am not a "contractor" or anything like that - I file a W4 and have direct deposit and everything I have is dealt in American Currencies and with the IRS, where I get a normal W2 at the end of the fiscal year... I reside in Florida, so unfortunately the closest Consulates are 6+ hours in each direction, and the "phone numbers" have restrictions on what you can and can't call about... and I don't think an Immigration Office can assist with this, as I'm not entering the US so much as I am LEAVING it for a time...

Any help would be great! Thanks so much!

 

[fkl]

I can only shed some light.

All the restrictions about being authorized to work in Canada apply to "working for an employer based in Canada". So as long as your employer is not established as a business in Canada, those restrictions do not apply.

However, that does not let you get away from Taxes. Taxes in Canada are not based upon location of employment, but are based upon place of residence. E.g. if i live in Ontario province and work in Quebec, i would be paying taxes by Ontario law. So even if you are not a permanent resident or authorized temp worker, you might be a "factual resident" for tax purposes. This term factual resident is described in detail and can easily be found on CRA website.

The real question is that you are not a permanent resident or an authorized worker. Being a US citizen you are only allowed to stay as a visitor for 6 months max in one go. You can cross the border again, but the immigration officer also needs to be certain that your intent is to VISIT not live, which would be difficult once you cross six month mark.

There are probably some tax treaties between Canada and US but i am not sure of the details.

The safe path to working for a US company while living in Canada is to get a PR - either as common law / spouse of a citizen or applying yourself independently in say Express entry, where you won't get much points without Canadian LMIA based job / education or experience.

 

[NateAlexander]

Thanks for the response!

I meant to type "Company" not Country... but from what I have been reading about the Foreign work program, is that it only applies to those who are "directly competing" with Canadian citizens, for which I would not be... The company I work for handles everything in US Based forms, such as the IRS and W2/W4 information... I would like to be there for longer than 6 months, but not for longer than a year. I plan to decided whether or not I want to become a permanent resident. My partner is a Canadian Citizen, so I'm having him also search for a little clarification but the hunt is not so fruitful. The most I can find is that I may need a Work Permit OR Temporary Residency, but those are both luke warm options as neither is really NEEDED or been established as a requirement. What exactly is a PR?

I know that I would need to pay federal taxes, or if they have a different name in Canada - but I would not be owning any sort of property or anything, and my partner would be the lease holder to his own apartment. I would gladly pay taxes if that's all it took, but even the Consulate in my state cannot answer questions on Immigration and Visas, and the literal Visa Office is sworn to not provide any sort of "advice" and lack an actual contact number... The CIC call center is also restricted to those WITHIN Canada... so the resource for information is rather flaky.. Still though, I'd rather not run the chance of performing anything illegal.

Thank you again for the information! I will look into "Factual Resident" details with the CRA!

 

[fkl]

PR is permanent resident in Canada. That authorizes you to work for any one in Canada.

 

[Aprleeh]

Hi, I'm in this exact situation myself and getting nowhere. Were you able to determine what needed to be done? Im not ready to jump into marriage but do want to live with my partner in Canada while working from home for my US based company. Any insight would be extremely helpful!!

Thank you