Residency rule, Canada

Canada PR — Keeping It

Summary

A permanent resident of Canada must be physically in Canada for at least 730 days in every five-year period. The days do not need to be in a row, and some days abroad count, for example days spent with a spouse who is a Canadian citizen. If you have been a permanent resident for less than 5 years, the question is whether you can still reach 730 days by the fifth anniversary of the day you became one. Falling short does not end your status automatically. You stay a permanent resident until an officer of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) or the border agency makes a formal decision.

Target
At least 730 days in Canada
Period
Every five-year period, counted back from the day you are examined
First 5 years
You must be able to reach 730 days by the fifth anniversary of landing
A day counts when
You are physically in Canada, or abroad in a situation the law accepts
Law
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, section 28
Run by
IRCC and the Canada Border Services Agency

Who it applies to

The rule

Section 28 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act says that a permanent resident must comply with a residency obligation with respect to every five-year period. You comply when, on at least 730 days in that period, you are in one of the situations the Act lists. The first and main one is being physically present in Canada.

The Act also counts some days outside Canada. These are days when you accompany a Canadian citizen who is your spouse or common-law partner, or your parent if you are a child. They are days when you work outside Canada full-time for a Canadian business or for the federal or a provincial public service. And they are days when you accompany a permanent resident spouse, partner or parent who has such a full-time job abroad. Ordinary time abroad, for work with a foreign employer, study or family reasons, does not count.

The five-year period moves. If you have been a permanent resident for 5 years or more, an officer looks at the 5 years immediately before the examination. If you have been a permanent resident for less than 5 years, you must show that you will be able to meet the obligation in the 5 years after the day you became a permanent resident. So in the first years you do not fail by being away. You fail when so much time has passed that 730 days no longer fit before the fifth anniversary.

You are examined when you apply for a PR card or for a permanent resident travel document, and you can be examined when you enter Canada. If you are short, the officer must still consider humanitarian and compassionate reasons, including the best interests of a child who is affected. If these reasons justify it, you keep your status. IRCC states that even if you do not meet the obligation, you stay a permanent resident until an official decision is made, and that your status does not end when your PR card expires. You can appeal a negative decision.

Why it exists

Permanent residence gives the right to live in Canada, and Canada expects permanent residents to use it. Two years in five is a low level: it leaves room for long periods of work, study or family care abroad, but it stops a person from holding the status for decades without living in the country. Counting days with a Canadian spouse or a Canadian employer abroad protects people whose time away is itself tied to Canada.

Counting the days

You count days in Canada, and days abroad that the law accepts, inside one five-year period. Only time after you became a permanent resident counts.

  1. Find the date you became a permanent resident. It is on your confirmation of permanent residence or landing record.
  2. If that date is 5 years ago or more, your period is the 5 years that end today. Count the days you were in Canada in that period.
  3. If that date is less than 5 years ago, count the days you have been in Canada since then, and count the days left until the fifth anniversary.
  4. Add any days abroad that qualify: with a Canadian citizen spouse, partner or parent, or in a full-time job for a Canadian business or public service.
  5. Compare with 730. In the first 5 years, days already in Canada plus days still left before the anniversary must reach 730.
  6. Keep proof of your time in Canada, such as tax assessments, leases, pay records and bank statements.
How Countr counts it. Countr counts the days it sees you in Canada after the date you enter as the start of your permanent residence, inside the five-year period that applies, and shows them against 730. In the first 5 years after landing it shows the credits you have earned and, separately, the days still available before the fifth anniversary, so you can see whether 730 is still possible. It warns you when you have 90 days of room left. Days abroad count only if you enter them as a qualifying period, and you should first check the IRCC conditions for work abroad and for accompanying family. Countr gives the calculation only. It does not decide that status is lost, it cannot weigh humanitarian reasons, and missing status or travel history needs your review.

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Examples

Landed, then went back abroad

Nadia became a permanent resident on 1 June 2023 and returned to her job abroad after two weeks. By 12 October 2026 she has spent 300 days in Canada. Her fifth anniversary is 1 June 2028. She needs 430 more days. From 13 October 2026 to 31 May 2028 there are 597 days, so she still complies. If she waits past 29 March 2027 to move, fewer than 430 days will be left and she can no longer meet the obligation by presence alone.

A long-term resident who is short

Victor has been a permanent resident since 2015. He applies for a new PR card on 1 October 2026. The officer looks at 1 October 2021 to 30 September 2026. Victor was in Canada on 700 days in that period, because he cared for his mother abroad for most of 3 years. He is 30 days short. He does not lose his status automatically. He can explain the reasons, and the officer must consider whether humanitarian and compassionate grounds justify letting him keep it.

Living abroad with a Canadian spouse

Leila is a permanent resident. Her husband is a Canadian citizen who works in Singapore. They lived there together for 4 of the last 5 years, and she spent 200 days in Canada. The days she was with her husband outside Canada count as days of compliance under section 28. With them she has far more than 730 days. She must be able to prove his citizenship, the marriage and that they lived together.

Exceptions

Common misconceptions

“I must live in Canada 2 years out of every 5 calendar years.”
The period is not a fixed block of calendar years. It is the 5 years before any day on which you are examined, so it moves with time.
“My PR card is valid, so my status is safe.”
The card is only a travel document. You can hold a valid card and be short of 730 days, and you can have an expired card and still be a permanent resident.
“If I drop below 730 days, I lose my status that day.”
No. You stay a permanent resident until an officer makes a formal decision, and you can raise humanitarian reasons and appeal.
“A short visit to Canada every year or two keeps my status.”
No. Visits do not reset anything. Only the total of 730 days in the five-year period matters.

Questions and answers

How long can a permanent resident stay outside Canada?

Up to 3 years in any five-year period, because you need 730 days in Canada. The time abroad can be one long stay or many short ones.

Do the 730 days have to be continuous?

No. IRCC states that the 730 days do not need to be continuous. All days in Canada inside the period are added together.

Does time in Canada before I became a permanent resident count?

No. Only days after you became a permanent resident count for this obligation. Earlier time counts in part for a different rule, the one in the tracker Canada Citizenship.

What happens at the border if I am short?

The officer can examine your residency obligation. If the officer finds that you do not meet it, a formal process starts in which you can explain your reasons. IRCC states that you stay a permanent resident until an official decision is made on your status.

I work for a Canadian company abroad. Do my days count?

They can, if the job is full-time and the employer is a Canadian business in the legal sense. IRCC expects an assignment abroad with a return to a job with that employer in Canada. A job with a foreign company does not count.

When does IRCC check the 730 days?

When you apply for or renew a PR card, when you apply abroad for a permanent resident travel document, and possibly when you enter Canada. The citizenship application has its own, higher count.

Sources

Other rules for Canada

See all trackers

This page explains the rule and how the days are counted. It is not legal or tax advice. The authority decides each case on its own facts.