What to do if leave canada as a permanent residence forever?
- Thread starter Ema2000
- Start date
You need to inform CRA the you are leaving permanently and ask them to determine your tax residency status. If you still have ties to Canada like dependent children you could still be a tax resident. You would want to transfer any savings out of Canada to limit ties to Canada. In terms of any tax sheltered investments and pensions you need to look into the specifics and decide what is best for your personal situation. You also need to inform the provincial health authority that you are leaving. Even if you leave you remain a PR. You would have to try to reenter Canada in the future and get reported for not meeting your RO to lose your PR. If you have no intention of returning you could also apply to renounce your PR status.
You are required to inform CRA when you leave for an extended period of time. It is actually best to advise the government that you are leaving.
no you aren't. Having done so and returned after 13 years, all CRA asks for is proof you've filed taxes elsewhere while you're out of the country. There is no requirement to notify CRA. You do have to meet the obligations of a Canadian resident though (I.e. file taxes for the current year if applicable).
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-ag...a-non-residents/leaving-canada-emigrants.html
The link you provided even says:
“Notes
If you determine that you do not have to file a return, you should let the CRA know the date you left Canada as soon as possible.
If you owned properties or goods when you left Canada you may have to report a capital gain.”
If you leave Canada you don’t have to follow the obligations of a Canadian resident. You may need to follow the requirements for a tax resident if CRA determine you are a tax resident or you are sure you are a tax resident. You should actually have CRA determine whether you are a tax resident and also notify them that you are leaving. Sending proof that you’ve paid taxes abroad is one way of providing proof that you left Canada but your foreign returns may not specify the exact day you left Canada. In order to calculate tax credits or know if you are entitled to things like CCB, CRA needs to know when you left not that you filed your taxes abroad for the next year. This will prevent any overpayment that you will need to repay in the future. It can take a while for CRA to ask for the repayment (sometimes years) and they definitely miss some cases.
This does NOT say "You are required to inform CRA when you leave for an extended period of time" as you stated above.
You might think it better. It might even BE better - as in, you really, really should do it. But your opinion, even if your opinion is correct that it is better to do so, is not the same thing as a requirement. Just say it's recommended, or that you'd recommend.
Once again, having actually emigrated out of Canada personally, consulting with a tax accountant prior to doing so, there is no obligation to actually contact CRA and tell them you are leaving. If there are no significant ties (home, property, family, bank accounts, job) there are no ties to consider a resident for tax purposes. And as the OP mentioned, they have no intention of returning.
My experience has been that there is no big deal with OHIP at least - with proviso as long as you do not make use of OHIP-paid medical services. (While living outside Canada, I did occasionally see doctors here, but paid out of pocket - no issues when I moved back.) Yes, you may be 'required' to inform them of change of address, but the thing they care about is whether you use OHIP-paid services or not.
Still, obviously, recommend just doing the change of address with OHIP/other provincial, too.
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