I need a PRTD immediately.
Does CBSA track exit records via air ? and does IRCC validated CBSA records?
I exited Canada on May 2020 or June 2021 . . .
As
@scylla noted, "
exits are tracked and IRCC has access." Mostly anyway. What that actually means in practical terms is largely explained in the information posted online by IRCC and referenced and linked by
@Ponga, and which again, for reference, is here:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/service-delivery/entry-exit.html
There are some nuances. And of course other sources for verifying the information a PR gives IRCC.
Generally . . .
IRCC, through CBSA and various government records, can generally verify the travel history reported by a PR in a PR TD application. Not perfectly, not always completely. But close enough the only safe bet is betting IRCC can and will identify omissions and inaccuracies in the travel history reported by the PR.
In regards to whether a PR can obtain access to this information, to help the PR fill in a complete travel history, the procedure for obtaining a copy of CBSA travel history is relatively simple (see link below). While Entry records obtained from CBSA are now nearly always complete (subject to some omissions, particularly if the PR has deliberately engaged in any of several means to evade the system), obtaining information about
EXITS from Canada is more limited and subject to some unknowns.
Caution: just because there is a high probability that IRCC and CBSA can access information enabling it to identify omissions or inaccurate information submitted by the PR, that DOES NOT mean all a traveler's exit information is in a Personal Information Bank that is subject to ATIP requests and thus accessible by individuals. Note that in particular the CBSA website about getting travel history explicitly states: "
Exit information is limited."
That is, IRCC and more so CBSA, can conduct investigations that include search queries into databases to access and extract information that is not yet maintained in Personal Information Banks (PIB). It appears that the Entry/Exit Program discussed at the IRCC webpage referenced by
@Ponga, means things are moving in the direction of CBSA populating a PIB with exit as well as entry records. But for now they have not got there. An ATIP request will only reach information in a Personal Information Bank, not information CBSA can access by investigatory research into, for example, airline manifest databases.
That is, there is information including some exit information that IRCC/CBSA could get, but unless they already have they will not get it to share with a client in response to an ATIP request.
For relevant CBSA information see
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/agency-agence/reports-rapports/pia-efvp/atip-aiprp/thr-rav-eng.html and
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/agency-agence/reports-rapports/pia-efvp/atip-aiprp/menu-eng.html
That aside and overall: unless you have only recently left Canada to go abroad, and have been residing in Canada for most of the last two years, and otherwise are clearly in compliance with the PR Residency Obligation, there is very little chance of getting a PR TD within a month. Never mind "immediately."
If you obtain a record of dates you EXITED Canada from CBSA, there is no guarantee it will be complete and that will take weeks to obtain, probably a month or more (supposed to be within a month, but often goes longer). So waiting for that to make a PR TD application is not going to work in the short term.
If you really need to travel to Canada in the short term, as soon as possible anyway (allowing this might not be all that soon), you can proceed to make the PR TD with the information you have, avoid waiting longer,
being sure to make it clear in the application the extent to which relevant information is unknown. Best to be clear about what information is an estimate, versus what information is otherwise uncertain, and very clear about what is unknown. Of course doing this is almost certain to trigger non-routine processing, and raise red flag questions, so at best the process will likely take longer.
How problematic this will be will depend on a range of factors, with how clear it is you are in compliance with the PR Residency Obligation looming large.
Thus . . . If you are solidly in compliance with the RO (regardless of the unknown exit date), as readily documented in the rest of the information you provide (all other travel dates, address history, work history, and submitting more supporting documents than is routine), this is a feasible approach, and especially so if you have also been primarily residing in Canada the last two years.
My sense is this is NOT the case. But, if you are solidly in compliance with the RO (regardless of the unknown exit date), as readily documented in the rest of the information you provide, you can proceed to make the PR TD with the information you have. The downside is that this is not likely to be a routinely processed application and thus will take more time than most, long ways past "
immediate."
Note: if you are again relying on H&C relief, making that case (based on truthful facts) is the bigger, more important, more pressing issue for your PR TD application. IRCC will be able to largely figure out, within a fair margin, how much you have been IN Canada, how much outside Canada, so if you are in RO compliance, things should result in a PR TD being issued. If not in RO compliance, what happens will depend on the strength of the H&C case (and, yeah, your overall immigration history is likely to haunt how this goes).
Applying With Unknown Information and Avoiding Misrepresentation:
You can avoid making a misrepresentation regarding an unknown or uncertain exit from Canada in 2020 or 2021 by specifically stating there was an exit during that time but you cannot recall the date. And otherwise give accurate dates for all other dates of exit and entry. And address and work history.
In addition to correctly reporting all other dates of exit and entry for the previous five years, for the trip abroad beginning in 2020 or 2021, I believe you can enter "???" in the "
From" column, for example, and then be sure to enter the correct date you NEXT returned to Canada. In the box for "
Other" (even if you selected A, B, or C for the reason) be sure to state something like "
travel date UNKNOWN; see supplemental information." Make it clear there is missing information and you do not have it. Note that the form will generate a zero ("0") in the days column, and the form will otherwise be off in the number of days outside Canada by however long you were abroad following that exit.
Then, of course, include supplemental information explaining what is missing, and the best you can why, and it would be a good idea to otherwise supplement the application with significantly more proof you meet the Residency Obligation. Also be sure to clearly acknowledge, in the supplemental statement, that the total number of days shown in the form, section 5.5, is NOT ACCURATE, that you were outside Canada MORE than what it shows.
How things will go, then, will depend on the strength of your case. If IRCC can readily conclude, from the information you provide and cross-checking other sources, including CBSA records, that you are in compliance with the RO, a PR TD should be issued. If you are relying on H&C relief, again the strength of that case, your H&C reasons, will determine the outcome.
This comes with a caution: A visa officer will quite likely conclude it is NOT credible you cannot figure out if you exited Canada in 2020 or 2021. Leading to . . .
Reality Check -- Yeah, From the Practical View Seats, the Scenario Looks Problematic
As noted, my sense is the above scenario is not the case, not your situation. This starts with the likelihood a visa officer will conclude it is NOT credible that you cannot figure out if you exited Canada in 2020 or 2021. Between bank records. Employment history. Address history. Tax documents. Recall of friends and family. Immediate family records, and their banking, employment, address, and other records. Child's school information. Old email. Receipts for this and that. There are so many ways to figure out which year it was you left Canada that it is close to impossible to imagine any visa officer finding a claim that you can't to be credible. Not that there would be an accusation of misrepresentation. But plenty of skepticism, perhaps a lot of suspicion.
Not that this, in itself, would be too problematic. Something of a problem, yes, since it is very likely to trigger an elevated degree of scrutiny and cross-checking. The good news is that will not hurt if all the rest of your information is accurate and the facts (including what is in CBSA records) otherwise clearly support a conclusion you are in RO compliance, or that based on H&C reasons you should be allowed to keep PR status.
Otherwise . . . well, otherwise this is not really about reconstructing whether a travel date was in 2020 or 2021. There is some bad news, dark alleys, in that direction, at least in terms of keeping PR status.
