Canada — PR Maintenance (730 Days in 5 Years)

Summary

Requirement

730 days in Canada

Window

Rolling 5 years (1,825 days)

Roughly

About 2 years of every 5

Effect if missed

PR status at risk

Authority

IRCC

To keep your Canadian permanent resident status you must be physically present in Canada for at least 730 days — about two years — in every rolling five-year (1,825-day) period. Meeting this residency obligation is what lets you renew your PR Card and stay a permanent resident. Certain time spent abroad — such as accompanying a Canadian-citizen spouse or working for a Canadian employer — can also count toward the 730 days.

Who it applies to

This obligation applies to every Canadian permanent resident. It matters most if you are:

• A PR who spends long stretches outside Canada for work, family, or study.
• A recent immigrant landing in Canada but not yet living there full-time.
• A PR whose card is expiring, since renewal is when the 730 days is most often checked.
• Someone considering a long trip abroad and unsure how much cushion they have.

It does not apply to Canadian citizens, who have no residency obligation, or to temporary residents such as visitors, students, or work-permit holders, whose stay is governed by their permit conditions instead.

The rule — and why it exists

Permanent residence carries a residency obligation: you must accumulate at least 730 days of presence in Canada within any five-year period. IRCC assesses this by looking back over the most recent five years from the date of assessment.

• The threshold is 730 days — exactly two years out of the 1,825 days in a five-year window.
• The window is rolling, tied to the assessment date rather than a fixed calendar block, so it moves forward continuously.
• Some days abroad count too. The obligation is not purely about physical presence; defined categories of time outside Canada are credited (see below).

Why it exists: permanent residence is meant for people who genuinely make Canada their home. The 730-day floor lets IRCC distinguish residents with a real, ongoing connection to Canada from those who hold the status mainly as a travel convenience, while the credits for time abroad avoid penalising families and workers whose lives legitimately take them overseas.

Counting the days

Days you physically spend in Canada always count. IRCC also credits certain time outside Canada. To assess your status:

1. 1Take the date you are being assessed (PR Card renewal, entry to Canada, or residency review).
2. 2Look back exactly five years (1,825 days) from that date.
3. 3Add up every qualifying day inside that window — both days in Canada and credited days abroad.
4. 4You need at least 730 qualifying days to meet the residency obligation.

Days that qualify toward the 730:

• Days physically in Canada: each counts as one full day, and the days you arrive and leave both count.
• Accompanying a Canadian citizen: time abroad living with your Canadian-citizen spouse, common-law partner, or (if you are a child) parent counts as presence.
• Working abroad for a Canadian employer: full-time work outside Canada for a Canadian business or the federal or provincial public service can count.
• Accompanying a PR who works abroad: time living with a permanent-resident spouse, partner, or parent employed full-time by a Canadian business or public service can count.

New permanent residents who have held status for less than five years still meet the obligation as long as it remains possible to reach 730 days within their first five years.

Examples

Example 1 — clearly compliant

Over the last five years you spent 3.5 years in Canada and 1.5 years travelling. That is roughly 1,280 days in Canada — comfortably above 730 — so you meet the residency obligation and can renew your PR Card without concern.

Example 2 — saved by time abroad

You were physically in Canada only about 400 days in the last five years, but you spent two of those years living abroad with your Canadian-citizen spouse. Those accompanying days count as presence, so together they push you past 730 and you remain compliant.

Example 3 — falling short

You landed as a PR, then lived abroad for work with a non-Canadian employer and returned to Canada for only about 500 days across five years, with no qualifying time abroad. You are below 730 and in breach of the obligation — your status is at risk at renewal or at the border, unless humanitarian and compassionate grounds apply.

Exceptions & edge cases

• Humanitarian & compassionate grounds. Even if you fall short of 730 days, an officer may allow you to keep status after weighing factors such as the best interests of a child, hardship, or circumstances beyond your control.
• Status is not lost automatically. Being under the threshold does not strip your PR by itself — status ends only after a formal determination or if you voluntarily renounce it.
• Less than five years as a PR. You are only in breach once it becomes impossible to still reach 730 days within your first five years as a permanent resident.
• Employer conditions for credited work. Work-abroad credits require a genuine Canadian business assignment; open-ended employment by a foreign entity generally does not count.

Common misconceptions

• "Missing 730 days means I instantly lose PR." False — status only ends after an official determination, and H&C grounds may still preserve it.
• "730 days is enough for citizenship." No — citizenship needs 1,095 days of physical presence in the five years before applying, a separate and higher bar.
• "Only days physically in Canada count." Not quite — time abroad accompanying a Canadian citizen or working for a Canadian employer can also count.
• "The five-year window is a fixed calendar block." It is rolling — IRCC looks back five years from whenever they assess you, so the window keeps moving.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• IRCC — Understand PR status
• IRCC — Maintain your PR status (residency obligation)