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Canada day-count rules

Canada's residency requirements depend on which status you're protecting. Permanent residents must be physically in Canada 730 days in every rolling 5-year window. Citizenship applicants need 1,095 days in the 5 years before applying. And on the tax side, sojourning 183 days or more in a calendar year can make you a deemed resident — taxable on worldwide income — even without a home there.

Each page below covers one Canadian day-count rule in plain English, with the counting details and links to IRCC and CRA official guidance.

Tax
Canada — 183-Day Tax Residency RuleThe Canada 183-day rule explained: stay 183+ days in a calendar year and the CRA deems you a resident, taxable on worldwide income. How days count and what triggers it.183 days / year
Residency
Canada — PR Maintenance (730 Days in 5 Years)How to keep Canadian permanent resident status: be physically present at least 730 days in every rolling 5-year period, how the residency obligation is counted, and what time abroad still counts. With official IRCC sources.730 days / 5 years
Visas
Canada — Visitor Visa (180 Days per Entry)How Canada's visitor visa 180-day rule works: most visitors get up to 6 months per entry, no annual cap, the border officer sets your leave-by date, and stays can be extended.180 days / visit
Citizenship
Canada — Citizenship Residence RequirementHow many days you must be physically present in Canada to apply for citizenship: at least 1,095 days in the 5 years before you apply, how the rolling window works, and how pre-PR days count. With official IRCC sources.1,095 days / 5 years
Free tools
183-Day Rule CalculatorCount your days in a country against a tax-residency threshold.
Canada PR Residency Calculator730 days in 5 years — check your residency obligation from your trips.
Canada Citizenship Days Calculator1,095 days in 5 years, including the half-day pre-PR credit.

Frequently asked questions

It depends on the goal. Keeping PR: 730 days in Canada per rolling 5 years. Citizenship: 1,095 days in the 5 years before applying (with a half-day credit for some pre-PR time). Tax residency: 183 days of sojourning in a calendar year triggers deemed residency, and ordinary residential ties (home, spouse, dependants) can make you a factual resident with fewer days.

If you sojourn — stay temporarily — in Canada for 183 days or more in a calendar year while tax-resident elsewhere, Canadian law deems you a tax resident for the whole year, owing federal tax on worldwide income. Days don't need to be consecutive and part-days count as full days.

A deemed resident is pulled into Canada's tax net without ordinary ties (usually via the 183-day sojourner rule). A deemed non-resident is the reverse: they have the ties, but a tax treaty tie-breaker assigns their residence to another country, so Canada treats them as a non-resident — with departure-tax consequences.

PR requires 730 days (2 years) inside Canada in every rolling 5-year window — so up to about 3 years outside per window, in principle. The window is checked whenever you're examined (border, PR card renewal), and certain days abroad (e.g. accompanying a Canadian-citizen spouse) can count as days in.