Leaving Canada checklist

Before you commit to a move

Use this first pass to find dependencies. A visa appointment, a family decision or a property valuation may determine what can happen next. Give each open item an owner and a target date; a checked box means you have completed the task, not that an authority has approved your position.

• Write down your destination, intended move date and who is moving with you.
• List your Canadian home, family, work and other continuing connections.
• Confirm the immigration route for every family member, including permission to work.
• Create a list of assets, accounts, pensions, business interests and expected income.
• Arrange a Canadian departure discussion and a destination tax discussion before making irreversible financial decisions.

Official reference: CRA: determining your residency status

One to three months before departure

• Collect purchase records and adjusted cost information for investments; identify assets needing a professional valuation.
• Ask each bank and investment provider whether it can service you in your destination and what changes it requires.
• Review scheduled TFSA contributions before your residency status changes.
• Ask your provincial or territorial health plan about absence rules and arrange suitable coverage for any gap.
• Check passports, required civil documents, translations and authentication requirements with the receiving authority.
• Build a moving budget with deposits, professional fees, insurance, travel and an emergency reserve.

For your document folder, use clear names such as “lease-start-date” and “investment-cost-records”. Keep originals securely and a separate backup. Record where the final signed version lives so an old draft cannot be mistaken for evidence.

Official reference: Government of Canada: travel checklist

At departure and during the first month

• Record actual travel dates and when your household establishes a home abroad.
• Save leases, employment arrangements and other evidence that explains the move.
• Tell the CRA and Canadian income payers about the relevant changes in your circumstances.
• Confirm how your banks will record your new address and tax residence.
• Review Canadian benefit eligibility and notify the relevant administrators of the move.
• Keep reliable access to tax correspondence, account statements and sign-in recovery methods.

The date on a flight ticket is one fact in a wider residency assessment. If your spouse moves later, your home remains available or the plan changes, add a dated explanation rather than rewriting the earlier record.

Official reference: CRA: leaving Canada

Prepare for the departure-year return

• Separate income and records by the relevant resident and non-resident periods.
• Discuss departure-tax calculations and whether Forms T1243, T1161 or T1244 apply.
• Obtain the tax-year-specific forms and confirm filing, payment and election deadlines separately.
• Check obligations for continuing Canadian rental, business, pension or investment income.
• Coordinate destination reporting and any available double-tax relief.
• Retain the filed return, supporting schedules, valuation evidence and correspondence together.

Build a calendar with a separate line for each country, form and payment. An appointment with an adviser is a preparation milestone; it does not replace a filing deadline. If you have already left, begin with the earliest unresolved obligation.

Official reference: CRA: Form T1161 · CRA: Form T1243 · CRA: Form T1244

Your handoff to an adviser

Use the free adviser meeting worksheet (PDF, 2 pages) to organise the facts, list your questions and record who will do each next step.

Prepare a one-page summary with your household timeline, homes available to you, income sources, largest assets and the decisions you have not made. Attach a list of records available rather than emailing every sensitive document at once.

• What facts could change the proposed Canadian residency conclusion?
• Which asset valuations or elections must be completed before a deadline?
• What continuing Canadian obligations will remain after departure?
• Which parts of the plan require a destination specialist?

Use the downloadable checklist for an offline working copy. The online tick boxes are saved on this browser when storage is available; they do not submit information to the CRA or your Exit Plan.

Choose your first three actions

A long checklist becomes useful when it has an order. Start with a task that unlocks another task: a confirmed work permit route, a decision about your home, or an investment record that an accountant needs. The timings below are planning targets, not government deadlines.

A practical weekly review takes ten minutes: mark what changed, the next dependency and the person responsible. Keep “waiting for an answer” separate from “done”.

A family moving in stages

• Alex gathers the proposed overseas lease and employment terms.
• Their partner records school dates and who will occupy the Canadian home.
• Together they ask the Canadian adviser which changes could affect the departure date, and ask a destination specialist when local obligations begin.

If the home cannot be rented on schedule, record the new facts and revisit the advice. A change log is more useful than a checklist that still describes the original plan.

Official reference: CRA residency guidance.

Your next step: make a seven-day action list

Choose only three open items for the next week. For each, record the action, owner, target date, dependency and evidence of completion. “Ask the bank if my account can stay open in Panama” is actionable; “sort out banking” is not.

Adapt these examples to your situation. Keep account numbers and identity documents out of the action list; store sensitive originals separately.