You may also count days outside of Canada as days for which you satisfy the residency obligation in the following circumstances:
Situation 1. Accompanying a Canadian citizen outside Canada
You may count each day that you accompanied a Canadian citizen outside Canada provided that the person you accompanied is your spouse, common-law partner or parent (if you are a child under 19 years of age).
Evidence required
You must provide supporting documents to prove that:
The person you are accompanying is a Canadian citizen; and
You are the spouse, common-law partner or child of that person.
Supporting documents may include:
marriage licence or evidence of common-law partnership (mandatory if you are accompanying a spouse or common-law partner);
child’s birth certificate, baptismal document, or adoption or legal guardianship document (mandatory if you are accompanying a parent);
all passports or other travel documents of the person you are accompanying used in the five (5) years before the application (mandatory);
Canadian Income Tax Notice of Assessment (NOA) for the past two (2) years
school or employment records;
association or club memberships;
documents showing the citizenship of the person you are accompanying, including the date the person became a Canadian citizen (mandatory);
evidence of the residential addresses of the person you are accompanying for the five (5) years before the application (mandatory);
any other documents that you want to have considered.
Situation 2. Employment outside Canada
You may count each day you were employed outside Canada if your employment meets the following requirements:
you are an employee of, or under contract to, a Canadian business or the public service of Canada or of a province or territory and
as a term of your employment or contract, you are assigned on a full-time basis to:
a position outside Canada
an affiliated enterprise outside Canada or
a client of the Canadian business or the public service outside Canada; and
you will continue working for the employer in Canada after the assignment.
For this application, a Canadian business is defined as:
a corporation that is incorporated under the laws of Canada or of a province and that has an ongoing operation in Canada
an enterprise that has:
an ongoing operation in Canada
is capable of generating revenue
is carried out in anticipation of profit
in which a majority of voting or ownership interests is held by Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or Canadian businesses as defined above or
an organization or enterprise created by the laws of Canada or a province
Supporting documents:
You must provide a letter signed by an official of the business stating:
the position and title of the signing official
the nature of the business and how it fits the description of a Canadian business (see definition above)
details of your assignment or contract outside Canada such as duration of the assignment; confirmation that you are a full-time employee of the “Canadian business” working abroad on a full-time basis as a term of your employment, or that you are on contract working on a full-time basis abroad as a term of your contract; and a description or copy of the position profile regarding the assignment or contract abroad, and
confirmation that the business was not created primarily for the purpose of allowing you to satisfy your residency obligation
You may also include:
articles of incorporation and business licenses
partnership agreements or corporate annual reports
corporate Canadian Income Tax Notices of Assessment or financial statements
copies of the Employee Assignment Agreement or Contract
copies of any agreements between the Canadian business and the business or client outside Canada concerning your assignment to that client or business
Pay Statements
Canadian Income Tax Notice of Assessment (NOA)
T4 slips
Any other evidence that you want to have considered
Situation 3. Accompanying a permanent resident outside Canada
You may count each day you accompanied a permanent resident outside Canada provided that:
the person you accompanied is your spouse, common-law partner or parent (if you are a child under 19 years of age); and
he or she was employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the public service of Canada or of a province or territory during the period you accompanied him or her.
Evidence required
You must provide supporting documents to prove that:
The person you are accompanying is a permanent resident;
You are the spouse, common-law partner or child of that person; and
The permanent resident you are accompanying meets his or her own residency obligation.
Supporting documents may include:
marriage license or evidence of common-law partnership (mandatory if you are accompanying a permanent resident spouse or common-law partner);
child’s birth certificate, baptismal document, or adoption or legal guardianship document (mandatory if you are accompanying a permanent resident parent);
all passports or other travel documents of the person you are accompanying used in the five (5) years before the application (mandatory);
School or employment records;
Canadian Income Tax Notice of Assessment;
association or club memberships;
documents showing that the person you are accompanying meets his or her own residency obligation (mandatory);
any other documents that you want to have considered.
Humanitarian and compassionate grounds
If you are unable to meet the residency obligation, CIC will consider any compelling humanitarian and compassionate factors in your individual circumstances that may justify the retention of permanent resident status.
CIC will notify you if this additional assessment is required.
