How many days do I have to spend in Canada to keep my permanent residence?
Short answer
In Canada, a permanent resident must be physically present in Canada for at least 730 days in every five-year period, or fall within one of the situations where days spent outside Canada are counted (s. 28 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act).
In detail
Section 28 sets out the residency obligation by tying it to five-year periods. The basic threshold is 730 days of physical presence in Canada within such a period.
The Act provides that compliance is assessed differently depending on how long the person has held the status: prospectively for someone who has been a permanent resident for less than five years, and for the preceding five years in other cases.
The section also provides that certain days spent outside Canada count toward the calculation, and that humanitarian and compassionate circumstances may justify keeping the status despite a breach.
What to document
All of your entries into and exits from Canada, with dates: boarding passes, tickets, passport stamps, travel history. A chronological record kept as you go is worth far more than a reconstruction attempted years later.
Put your facts in writing, free. Writing your version down early, keeping your documents dated and preparing your questions for a lawyer: the tool is there to document, never to advise.
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Official sources
Related questions
- Does time spent abroad with my Canadian spouse count?
- I work abroad for a Canadian company does that count toward my permanent residence?
- I went over my days outside Canada do I automatically lose my permanent residence?
- How do I prove my days of presence in Canada?
- How long do I have to live in Canada before applying for citizenship?
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.