New here. I know this topic has been covered by others but referring to my personal circumstances.
I am a fairly recent PR living in Vancouver, landed in November 2022. My PR card is therefore up for renewal in Nov 2027.
I am an audio engineer in the touring music industry and as such travel worldwide for work. Often for months at a time. I am the sole director and full time employee of a Canadian registered LTD company.
I am fairly confident that I will not meet the 730 days required to renew my PR card in 2027. Currently I travel on average between 7-9 months a year outside of Canada for work. Whenever not working I return to Vancouver and continue to work locally when contracts arise.
My question here is does my touring work outside of Canada count as days spent in Canada towards PR? This seems an extremely grey area. As I work for a Canadian company, pay taxes in Canada and essentially return to Canada as soon as a particular contract or a tour is over. Would this be a situation that an immigration officer would accept the circumstances for being under the required days for renewal?
Yep. Grey area. There are a number of details that will matter.
Caution: this is a tricky exception and especially tricky for anyone working for themselves (or even working for a small family business). While it is something of an exaggeration, one might say that anyone who needs the
working-abroad-for-a-Canadian-business credit to comply with the Residency Obligation probably does not qualify for the credit. (Again, this is an exaggeration, recognizing that many PRs do qualify for and rely on this credit; but many expecting to get this credit do not qualify for it.)
While you acknowledge awareness there are extensive discussions here about getting Residency Obligation credit for days working abroad for a Canadian business, it is not clear how much homework you have done toward understanding the issues involved. Many of the discussions here at least reference situations quite similar to yours. These scenarios come up rather often, largely because more than a few attempt to get around the RO by ostensibly establishing a business in Canada that in turn assigns them to work abroad, which efforts tend to crash and burn.
Moreover, in particular, it appears that you have not even reviewed the basic information that IRCC provides, including sources like the appendix in guides for PR card and PR Travel Document applications, "
Appendix A: Residency Obligation," which has been frequently referenced, cited, quoted, and linked in many threads here; see
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...newal-change-gender-identifier.html#appendixA
In particular, for example, you ask "
Would I need to provide evidence of employment?" This is clearly answered in Appendix A, where it describes the "
supporting documents" that need to be submitted to show that one complies with the PR Residency Obligation when relying on this credit; see the information under the title "
Situation A. Employment outside Canada." It describes, for example, what information needs to be included "
in a letter signed by an official of the business." Hint: the letter must confirm quite a few particular details.
Even though it was last updated in 2015, the Operational Manual for Overseas Processing (OP 10) for Permanent Residency Status Determination, cited and linked by
@scylla contains much the same information; see basic information about this credit in section 6.5 and more detailed information (very similar to what is in Appendix A) in the chart listing guidelines for applying Regulation 61 IRPR, which contains provisions prescribing the criteria for this credit. The regulation is here:
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2002-227/page-9.html#h-686425
Similarly, and likewise last updated in 2015, see the Operational Manual for Enforcement (ENF 23) regarding Loss of Permanent Resident Status here:
https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/ircc/migration/ircc/english/resources/manuals/enf/enf23-eng.pdf
Section 6.5 contains the same as in OP 10 Section 6.5, and Section 7.4 is roughly the same as in the OP 10 chart but in a more readable format.
THAT SAID . . . how this credit is applied in practice is what looms large. It is, usually, strictly applied. The technicalities involved tend to work against getting credit. In regards to what qualifies as a "
Canadian business" for purposes of this credit, for example, the technical elements must be met to get the credit, but just meeting the technical elements might not be enough. In this regard it warrants noting that for those engaged in a more or less sole proprietorship, more or less self-employed, and even family businesses, it is obvious that IRCC scrutinizes these cases more thoroughly and more skeptically. Thus, even if IRCC cannot overtly conclude the purpose of the business is to allow the PR to meet the RO while living outside Canada, and deny credit specifically on that basis, suspicion that the establishment or organization of the business in Canada is more or less about avoiding RO enforcement tends to result in IRCC finding some aspect of the business or the employment relationship or the assignment as reason to deny credit. In particular, if the business itself, or the PR's life, is largely centered outside Canada, there is a high risk IRCC will find reason to deny credit.
Note, for example, it is not enough that the business is legally organized and established in Canada. It must be an ongoing operation IN Canada.
That is apart from wrestling with whether a person can assign themselves to a temporary job assignment outside Canada.
IN CONTRAST . . . if and when the PR might encounter RO enforcement action in which the credit is denied leading to the loss of PR status is a somewhat different, more complex question. Note, for example, the pattern of travel itself can have a big impact on whether CBSA officers identify a RO compliance issue. CBSA is less likely to identify a RO compliance issue for a PR who has been coming and going fairly regularly, so it might not be until the PR is applying for a new PR card or applying for a PR Travel Document that the issue gets scrutinized. (Technically if the PR is outside Canada more than 1095 days since landing, within the first five years, they are then in breach of the RO; but for a PR coming and going regularly, and presenting a valid PR card, CBSA is not likely to conduct a RO enforcement examination unless a RO compliance issue somehow becomes obvious.
Also note there is a big difference if the time outside Canada is around 7 months a year, which will mean the PR can meet the RO based on days IN Canada (5 months per year for five years adds up to more than 730 days). No need for the working abroad credit.
Nine months a year outside Canada, in contrast, while NO ONE in Canada is operating the business IN Canada all that time, at the least would invite questions about whether it really is a business with an ongoing operation in Canada, and in the meantime would total a RO shortfall by quite a lot.
In other words, successfully navigating this could be a challenge.
