I am new to Canada as a PR and so far I have left the country back to the states twice.
I have read online that one of the methods used to prove your residency is the entry/exit stamps on your passport however, I don't have any of those, last time I don't even think the US office looked at my picture.
I'm sure Canadian officials are aware of this, hence the questions if we are known to have a higher level of scrutiny when applying for citizenship
Reminder: It is the individual PR who is the primary source of information about travel dates. The PR is expected to declare ALL exits from and entries into Canada when applying for a new PR card or applying for grant citizenship (naturalized citizenship).
IRCC now provides a blank travel journal online which PRs can download and use to keep an ongoing record of their travel abroad, including to foreign countries like the U.S. (Even day trips need to be reported in a citizenship application presence calculation.)
Of course IRCC employs various resources, tools, and methods for verifying the accuracy and completeness of the PR's information.
Since the PR himself or herself is the ONE SINGLE PERSON in the WHOLE WORLD with for-sure access to each and every time a PR leaves Canada and enters Canada, it is important for PRs to keep as complete and accurate record as they practically can. If IRCC determines the PR's account is NOT accurate that can make it difficult, or even very, very difficult for the PR to meet the PR's burden of proof in establishing compliance with the PR Residency Obligation or establishing the citizenship applicant's satisfaction of the physical presence requirement.
Note, for example, that IRCC's access to CBSA or U.S. records (either by consent or pursuant to just cause in an investigation if warranted) is NOT ordinarily about proving when a PR was in Canada or outside Canada: it is to see if there is information indicating the PR has failed to be an accurate reporter of the information.
There is a persistent, misguided tendency among many to think the government has an obligation to figure out and calculate a PR's history in Canada. The government has NO such obligation. The burden of proof is on the PR. If IRCC or CBSA ascertain a PR's account of information is not trustworthy (whether intentionally or unintentionally), that means the primary and best source of this information cannot be relied upon. In the absence of a primary source of competent and reliable information/evidence, proof can be rather difficult to come by, leaving the PR in the rather precarious situation of lacking the required proof (for PR RO compliance or for a citizenship application).
