You've Left Canada: Could the CRA Still Treat You as a Resident?

Significant residential ties, the NR73 determination, and the treaty as the tie-breaker

Scott Tang, CPAUpdated 2026-11-052026 rules5 min read

If you plan to move back to China or to another country, do you stop being a Canadian tax resident once you leave? Not necessarily. The CRA still looks at your residential ties: if you keep your home, or your spouse and children are still in Canada, you are quite likely still a Canadian resident after you leave and must still report your worldwide income. Whether you have really left depends on your residential ties, any day-count rules that apply and the treaty, taken together; the day you become a non-resident triggers the departure tax.

Ties, not just presence

If your home, spouse or children are still in Canada, that usually points toward still being a resident; it has to be weighed as a whole, with the treaty

Departure date

Generally the latest of the day you leave, the day your spouse and dependants leave, and the day you become a resident of your new country; if you return to the country you lived in before coming to Canada, it is generally the day you yourself leave (even if your spouse stays behind to sell the home), based on the facts

NR73

You can ask the CRA to give its view of your status (optional, not required)

Departure tax

On the day you leave, most of your assets are deemed sold at market value

When have you really left?

Tie	If kept, you may still be a resident	What usually needs to be dealt with
Your home in Canada	✓Your own home is kept empty or available for you to live in at any time	✓Sell it, or rent it out long-term to an unrelated person
Spouse or partner	✓Still living in Canada	✓Moves with you
Dependent children	✓Still going to school and living in Canada	✓Move with you
Bank accounts, credit cards	◐Secondary ties, looked at together	◐You can keep one or two accounts
Driver's licence, provincial health insurance	◐Secondary ties	✓Generally cancel them or stop using them
Ties in your new country	—	✓Have a home in the new country and become a tax resident there

Your home in Canada

⚠️ If kept, you may still be a resident: ✓Your own home is kept empty or available for you to live in at any time
✅ What usually needs to be dealt with: ✓Sell it, or rent it out long-term to an unrelated person

Spouse or partner

⚠️ If kept, you may still be a resident: ✓Still living in Canada
✅ What usually needs to be dealt with: ✓Moves with you

Dependent children

⚠️ If kept, you may still be a resident: ✓Still going to school and living in Canada
✅ What usually needs to be dealt with: ✓Move with you

Bank accounts, credit cards

⚠️ If kept, you may still be a resident: ◐Secondary ties, looked at together
✅ What usually needs to be dealt with: ◐You can keep one or two accounts

Driver's licence, provincial health insurance

⚠️ If kept, you may still be a resident: ◐Secondary ties
✅ What usually needs to be dealt with: ✓Generally cancel them or stop using them

Ties in your new country

⚠️ If kept, you may still be a resident: —
✅ What usually needs to be dealt with: ✓Have a home in the new country and become a tax resident there

Renting out your home: a rented-out home is not treated as a dwelling you've kept only if it is rented to an unrelated person, at market rent, on a long-term basis (generally, you can't take it back to live in at any time). If it is left empty or lent to relatives, and you can come back and live in it at any time, the CRA may consider that you still have a dwelling in Canada. These are all factual factors; you don't have to sell your home or live apart from your family to be considered to have left.

What if both countries treat you as a resident?

A clean break

No significant ties left in Canada

You settle in your new country

A non-resident of Canada

Non-resident rules apply from the day you leave

Ties not fully cut

You still have a home or family in Canada

The new country also treats you as a resident

The treaty assigns you to one country

If you're assigned to the other country, Canada treats you as a deemed non-resident; the decision needs supporting evidence

What to do in the year you leave

1
Set the departure date
Based on when your ties are cut
2
Calculate departure tax
The market value of your assets on the day you leave
3
Departure-year return
Worldwide income before you leave + departure tax
4
Notify the CRA
Benefits stop; update your address
5
Then, non-resident rules
Canadian rent, RRSPs and home sales follow the non-resident rules

Points to watch

"Keeping the house" is the most common issue
If you plan to come back and live there one day, and leave the house empty or let relatives live in it, that often points toward still being a resident. Keeping any one tie doesn't automatically decide the outcome; everything is weighed together.
Family staying in Canada
If your spouse and children stay in Canada while you go back to China to work, that usually points toward still being a resident, and the treaty is then applied; see "'Astronaut' Families: One Spouse in Canada, One in China" in this series.
NR73 is not required
You can use NR73 to ask the CRA for its opinion, but you must complete it truthfully. If you're unsure, have a professional look at your situation first.
The departure date affects departure tax
For assets that rose sharply in value before you leave, leaving a day earlier or later can change the result.

How Sheng Qian CPA can help

Assess before you leave
Based on the ties you plan to keep and those you'll deal with, we assess your departure date and your status after you leave.
How to handle your ties
Whether to rent out or sell the house, which accounts to keep: we give you a checklist from a tax point of view.
Departure-year filing
Departure tax, the return for the year you leave and later non-resident filings, done together. For prices, see "What Sheng Qian CPA Can Do for Newcomers and People Leaving Canada: Support on Arrival and on Departure" in this series.

Sources

Disclaimer

This article is general information only and is not tax advice. Every person's situation is different; please consult a CPA about your specific arrangements. Service fees are as set out in our written quote.