Deemed residents of Canada

This page provides basic information about the tax rules that apply to you if you are a deemed resident of Canada for income tax purposes. It will also help you understand your tax obligations to Canada.

On this page

Are you a deemed resident of Canada?

You are a deemed resident of Canada for income tax purposes if one of the following situations applies:

Learn more: Factual residents – Temporarily outside of Canada.

Notes

If you are a deemed resident of Canada, and also establish residential ties in a country with which Canada has a tax treaty and that you are considered to be a resident of that country for the purposes of that tax treaty, you may be considered a deemed non-resident of Canada for income tax purposes.

You become a deemed non-resident of Canada when your ties with the other country become such that, under the tax treaty with which Canada has with the other country, you would be considered a resident of that other country and not Canada.

As a deemed non-resident of Canada, the same rules apply to you as a non-resident of Canada.

The 183-day rule

When you calculate the number of days you stayed in Canada during the tax year, include each day or part of a day that you stayed in Canada. These include:

  • days that you attended a Canadian university or college
  • days that you worked in Canada
  • days that you spent on vacation in Canada, including on weekend trips

If you lived in the United States and commuted to work in Canada, do not include commuting days in the calculation.

Your tax obligations

If you are a deemed resident of Canada for the tax year, you:

Filing your income tax return

If you are a deemed resident of Canada for the year, you may have to file a Canadian income tax return for that year. For more information, see Do you have to file a return?

Which income tax package should you use

For each tax year that you are a deemed resident of Canada for income tax purposes, use the Income Tax Package for Non-Residents and Deemed Residents of Canada.

If you lived in Quebec right before you left Canada

In addition to being considered a deemed resident of Canada, under Quebec law, you may also be considered a deemed resident of the province of Quebec. If so, you may have to pay Quebec income tax while you are serving abroad.

For example, if you are a deemed resident of Canada and were, at any time in the year, an agent-general, an officer or a servant of the Province of Quebec and you were a resident of that province just before your appointment or employment with that province, you must pay Quebec income tax.

To avoid double taxation (surtax for non-residents and deemed residents of Canada plus Quebec income tax), attach a note to your federal return stating the following:

For more information, contact the Canada Revenue Agency.

The Province of Quebec also grants relief to certain taxpayers who were deemed residents of Canada and Quebec. This includes deemed residents of Canada who are members of the Canadian Forces or, at any time in the year, an ambassador, minister, high commissioner, officer, or servant of Canada, and who were also deemed residents of Quebec. For more information, contact Revenu Québec.

Filing due date

Generally, you must file your income tax return on or before:

Note

Any balance of tax owing must be paid on or before April 30 of the year after the tax year, regardless of the due date of the tax return.

Entitlement to benefits

Canada child benefit

If you are eligible to receive the Canada child benefit (CCB), you will continue to receive it, but you are not eligible for any related provincial or territorial benefits during your absence from Canada.

You will have to file a return each year so that the Canada Revenue Agency can calculate your CCB. If you have a spouse or common-law partner who is a deemed or factual resident, your spouse or common-law partner will also have to file a return each year.

If your spouse or common-law partner is a non-resident of Canada, they will have to file Form CTB9, Income of Non-Resident Spouse or Common-Law Partner for the Canada child benefit.

If you have a child while outside Canada, you can apply for the CCB for that child by sending the CRA a completed Form RC66, Canada Child Benefits Application includes federal, provincial, and territorial programs. For more information, see Booklet T4114, Canada Child Benefit and related provincial and territorial programs.

Forms and publications

Page details

Date modified: