The leaving-Canada checklist
These are the evidence categories the CRA weighs, in the order it will look for them. Download the same list as a one-page PDF — no email needed.
Download the free checklist (PDF) ↓
Your new country
- Lease or proof of housingNames, address, dates and the living arrangement.
- New driver's licenceIf issued and applicable to your situation.
- Residence or immigration documentThe visa or permit that applies to your status — and whether it is permanent.
- Local bank statementEvidence of an account in your new country.
Canada
- Sale, lease or letting of your Canadian homeExplain what happened to it and whether it remains available to you. A dwelling is the first significant tie.
- Provincial health card cancellationTell your province you have moved. In Ontario, notify ServiceOntario with your new address and move date; OHIP continues only for the allowable time, generally 90 days.
- Driver's licence and vehicle registrationSurrender or let lapse, or be ready to explain why you kept them; both are on the CRA's secondary-ties list.
- Benefits and payrollTell the CRA your residency changed so the GST/HST credit and Canada child benefit stop; give your employer, bank and RRSP or TFSA issuer your non-resident address so Part XIII withholding and NR4 slips are right.
- Memberships and mailCancel or downgrade clubs, professional and union memberships you no longer use; redirect mail. Keep the confirmations.
Keeping a Canadian bank account is a secondary tie, not a decisive one. See how the CRA weighs it ↗
You prepare here.
You file with the CRA.
There is no mandatory departure notice — but there are four things the CRA expects you to do, and they have deadlines. This app does not connect to CRA My Account.
1. Tell the CRA and your payers
Update your address and residency status with the CRA so benefits stop cleanly, and give banks, brokers and plan issuers your non-resident address so 25% Part XIII tax (or the treaty rate on Form NR301) is withheld and reported on NR4 slips.
2. File your emigrant-year return
Use the package for the province you left, enter your departure date, report world income to that date and Canadian-source income after it. Due April 30 of the following year; June 15 if you or your spouse carried on a business in Canada.
3. Attach the departure-tax forms
Form T1243 for the deemed disposition, Form T1161 if the fair market value of all your property exceeded $25,000, and — if you are deferring — Form T1244 by April 30 of the year after you emigrate, with security where the federal tax exceeds $16,500.
4. Keep the file
The CRA can revisit residency and the deemed-disposition values years later, and a later sale of taxable Canadian property triggers section 116 notification within 10 days. Keep the evidence, valuations and every notification you sent.
CRA: Leaving Canada (emigrants) ↗
The checklist PDF is free. For $27 we compile your answers and documents into a structured report; for $497 a member of our team reviews it and writes an opinion memo.
Get my departure report — $27 → Free checklist ↓