Do Pre-PR day trips to Canada during the five years preceding the citizenship application count as half day? Thanks!
Technically they could. Practically do not count them. The reasons for this are so obvious they do not warrant enumerating.
Depending on what the instructions state, especially those in the new presence calculator (when it becomes available), it might be better to add a supplemental page explaining that in addition to dates reported in the calculator, there were brief visits to Canada previously which are not listed. Or, one could actually list those dates on the supplemental page. The object is to be truthful about time in Canada more than to obtain credit for such days.
Bottom-line, overall, is that including brief visits to Canada, in the presence calculator itself, would likely increase the risk of non-routine processing, even if to just verify those dates. There are no good reasons for increasing the risk of substantial delays in processing by including such days, even if they ultimately add up to a month or three of credit (the more credit they would add up to, the more extensively IRCC is likely to scrutinize the evidence, translating into the longer the delays).
Obviously, however, how one approaches these scenarios will
DEPEND on the particulars in the specific case. For example, a different approach might be more appropriate for someone living in the U.S. and commuting to work in Canada for an extended period of time, until actually making the move to a residence in Canada.
But generally, at the very least
DO NOT RELY on credit for such days; be sure to have enough days credit to meet the requirements based on days in Canada after coming to Canada to live (which can be with visitor status). Again, this is about what it is
practical to do.
