Although its always safer to get the clearance, On the IMMIgroup website it clearly mentions that the 183 days criteria is for EACH of the years in the last 4 years. see link below. Although at the time they were talking about the pre C6 implementation, I am guessing the same is applicable now. Also as far as I know the 183 days have to be spent outside Canada in one stretch in order to invoke the PCC requirement.Hey guys,
I have a question regarding police clearance certificate .... do we need to get PCC only if we spent 183 days in a year outside Canada or cumulative 183 days in past 4 years outside Canada in a single country ?
https://www.immigroup.com/news/citizenship-residence-calculator-dos-and-donts-cit0407
as for the reason of absence, you are required to declare it even if it is work related. see link below (question 9):
https://eservices.cic.gc.ca/rescalc/redir.do?redir=faq#Q9