How to Become a Non-Resident of Canada for Tax Purposes
Becoming a non-resident of Canada for tax purposes is not something you apply for, and it is not decided by your citizenship, your passport, or the date on your plane ticket. The Canada Revenue Agency decides it on the facts — above all on the residential ties you keep here after you leave. Get those wrong and you can be living in Lisbon while Canada still taxes your worldwide income.
You become a non-resident of Canada for tax purposes when you sever your significant residential ties — a home in Canada, a spouse or common-law partner in Canada, and dependants in Canada — and establish a permanent home in another country. There is no application and no approval. The CRA weighs all the facts, including secondary ties and the purpose, intent and continuity of your stay abroad. You can ask the CRA for its opinion using Form NR73, but that is an opinion, not a status you are granted.
| Canadian tax residency status | When it applies | What Canada taxes |
|---|---|---|
| Non-resident | No significant residential ties, and you lived outside Canada all year or stayed under 183 days | Canadian-source income only |
| Emigrant | You left, made a permanent home abroad, and severed ties during the year | World income to your departure date, then Canadian-source only |
| Factual resident | You live abroad but keep significant ties (temporary work, study, commuting) | World income — you never stopped being a resident |
| Deemed non-resident | You are a factual resident here but a treaty makes you a resident of the other country | Treated the same as a non-resident |
| Deemed resident | No significant ties, but you stayed in Canada 183 days or more | World income |
Source: Canada Revenue Agency, Determining your residency status. Verified August 2026.
The residential ties test that decides everything
Canadian tax residency is a question of fact, not of paperwork. The CRA states that all relevant facts must be considered, including your residential ties with Canada and the length of time, purpose, intent and continuity of your stay while living inside and outside Canada.
Those ties come in two weights, and the difference matters enormously.
Significant residential ties — the three that carry the most weight:
- A home in Canada
- A spouse or common-law partner in Canada
- Dependants in Canada
Secondary residential ties — individually minor, collectively capable of tipping a case:
- Personal property in Canada, such as a car or furniture
- Social ties, such as memberships in Canadian recreational or religious organizations
- Economic ties, such as Canadian bank accounts or credit cards
- A Canadian driver’s licence
- A Canadian passport
- Health insurance with a Canadian province or territory
Keeping a home available for your own use in Canada, and leaving a spouse or dependants behind, are the two facts most likely to keep you a Canadian tax resident no matter where you physically live. Renting your house out on a long-term arm’s-length lease is treated very differently from keeping it empty and available. And “my spouse is joining me next year” is a common, expensive assumption — until they do, that tie is live.
Emigrant, factual resident, or deemed non-resident?
People who leave Canada fall into one of three buckets, and the label determines what Canada taxes.
You are an emigrant if you left Canada, established a permanent home in another country, and severed your residential ties with Canada, ceasing to be a resident during the tax year. This is what most people mean by becoming a non-resident of Canada for tax purposes. In your departure year you report world income up to your departure date, and Canadian-source income after it.
You are a factual resident if you maintain residential ties with Canada while you are away. The CRA gives the common cases: working temporarily outside Canada, teaching or attending school in another country, commuting daily or weekly to a job in the United States, vacationing outside Canada, or spending part of the year in the U.S. A factual resident never stopped being a Canadian tax resident, and Canada continues to tax world income.
You are a deemed non-resident of Canada if you established residential ties in a country Canada has a tax treaty with and are considered a resident of that country, but you are otherwise a factual resident of Canada because you kept significant ties here. This is the treaty tie-breaker doing its work. The practical point is simple: the CRA states that the same rules apply to deemed non-residents as to non-residents of Canada, so the tax outcome lands in the same place even though the route there is different.
There is also a rule running the other way. If you have no significant residential ties but you stayed in Canada for 183 days or more in the year, you may be a deemed resident and taxed on world income anyway. Counting days is not a substitute for cutting ties, and cutting ties is not a substitute for counting days.
How to become a non-resident of Canada: the practical steps
There is no form that makes you a non-resident and no CRA approval to wait for. What you can do is make the facts unambiguous, because a residency determination is decided on the record you leave behind.
- Establish a permanent home abroad. The CRA’s own description of an emigrant includes establishing a permanent home in another country, not merely being absent from Canada.
- Deal with the Canadian home. Sell it, or rent it out on a genuine long-term arm’s-length lease. A property kept available for your own use is a significant tie.
- Move the family. A spouse, common-law partner, or dependants remaining in Canada is a significant tie in its own right.
- Wind down secondary ties where you reasonably can: provincial health coverage, a Canadian driver’s licence, club memberships, unnecessary bank and credit accounts, a car and furniture in storage.
- Tell the people who pay you. The CRA is explicit that if you still have Canadian bank accounts or amounts being paid to you from Canada, you are required to notify your Canadian payers and financial institutions that you are no longer a resident. This is what switches your income over to the correct non-resident withholding.
- Report your departure date on page 1 of your return, in the Residence Information area, on the return for the year you left — the CRA sets out the filing mechanics on its Leaving Canada (emigrants) page.
- Keep the evidence. Lease or sale documents, the date of the move, foreign residency and tax filings, and the paper trail on cancelled ties.
Some ties are unavoidable and that is fine. A Canadian passport does not make you a resident, and a single dormant bank account will not either. The test weighs the whole picture, which is exactly why the significant ties matter more than a long list of small ones.
Form NR73: useful, optional, and not a decision
If you want the CRA’s view of your situation, you can complete Form NR73, Determination of Residency Status (leaving Canada). The equivalent for people arriving is Form NR74.
Two things are worth understanding before you file it. First, it produces an opinion based on the facts you disclose — it is not a status the CRA grants, and it does not bind either side if the facts turn out differently. Second, filing it is entirely optional; you are not required to submit NR73 in order to be a non-resident, and many people who leave cleanly never file one. It is most useful where the facts genuinely are ambiguous, such as a departure with a home or family still in Canada.
Where the stakes are large or a treaty tie-breaker is involved, professional advice is better value than a form. The CRA’s detailed technical position sits in Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1.
Ceasing residence triggers a deemed sale of most property at market value. See how departure tax works before you go.
What changes the day you become a non-resident
Ceasing to be a resident of Canada changes what Canada taxes, how it collects, and what you can claim.
- Canada taxes only Canadian-source income. Your salary, business income, and investments abroad fall outside the Canadian net from your departure date.
- Departure tax applies. You are treated as having sold most of your property at fair market value on the day you cease residence, which can create a capital gain with no sale to fund it. Registered plans and Canadian real property are among the exceptions — the mechanics, forms, and the election to defer payment are covered in our guide to deemed disposition in Canada.
- Flat withholding replaces graduated rates. Most Canadian-source pension, RRSP, and RRIF payments become subject to a flat 25% Part XIII withholding, explained in RRSP withholding tax for non-residents of Canada. Where that overtaxes you, the section 217 election lets you use graduated rates instead and claim a refund.
- Benefits stop. Canada Child Benefit and GST/HST credit eligibility generally end when you cease to be a resident, which is one reason the CRA wants your departure date.
- Canadian real estate stays in the Canadian tax net, both while you hold it and when you sell — see capital gains tax on selling property in Canada.
One boundary worth stating because it confuses almost everyone: tax residency and immigration status are different things. Ontario’s non-resident speculation tax turns on citizenship and permanent residence, not on tax residency, so a Canadian citizen who is a tax non-resident does not pay it. Being a “non-resident” in one system tells you nothing about the other. Our other tools are in the free financial calculators hub.
Frequently asked questions
You become a non-resident by severing your significant residential ties with Canada — a home here, a spouse or common-law partner here, and dependants here — and establishing a permanent home in another country. There is no application form and no CRA approval; the CRA determines residency on the facts of your case.
The CRA lists three: a home in Canada, a spouse or common-law partner in Canada, and dependants in Canada. Secondary ties that may also be considered include personal property such as a car or furniture, social and economic ties, a Canadian driver’s licence, a Canadian passport, and provincial health insurance.
A deemed non-resident is someone who is otherwise a factual resident of Canada — they kept significant residential ties here — but who established residential ties in a country Canada has a tax treaty with and is considered a resident of that country under the treaty. The CRA applies the same rules to deemed non-residents as to non-residents.
No. Form NR73, Determination of Residency Status (leaving Canada), is optional and produces the CRA’s opinion based on the facts you disclose. It is not an application and the CRA does not grant non-resident status through it. It is most useful when your facts are genuinely ambiguous.
It is possible but harder, because a home in Canada is a significant residential tie. A property rented out on a genuine long-term arm’s-length lease is treated very differently from one kept available for your own use. Where a home remains, the rest of the facts carry more weight and professional advice is worthwhile.
Not by itself. Day counting works in the other direction: if you have no significant residential ties but stay in Canada 183 days or more in a year, you may be a deemed resident taxed on world income. To be a non-resident you generally need no significant residential ties and either to have lived outside Canada throughout the year or stayed under 183 days.
Last updated: August 2026. Rules verified against Canada Revenue Agency guidance.
This article is general information, not tax advice. Canadian residency status is determined on the specific facts of each case, and treaty tie-breaker rules, provincial health coverage, and departure tax can interact in ways that depend on your circumstances and your destination country. Confirm current rules with the Canada Revenue Agency, and get professional cross-border advice before you leave rather than after.
