alphazip has this mostly right based on what the revised section 5(1)(c) of the
Citizenship Act prescribes. See the
"amendments not in force" page for the
Citizenship Act at the Justice Laws website or any of the numerous online renderings of the
SCCA which are available. If looking in the
SCCA the particular requirement is set out in section 3 of the Act (replacing section 5(1)(c) of the
Citizenship Act as it currently reads).
The revised requirement will, in addition to the 4/6 rule, require the applicant to have been, while a PR,
" (ii) . . . physically present in Canada for at least 183 days during each of four calendar years that are fully or partially within the six years immediately before the date of his or her application, and
(iii) met any applicable requirement under the Income Tax Act to file a return of income in respect of four taxation years that are fully or partially within the six years immediately before the date of his or her application;"
This is a quote with emphasis added, citing what will be subsections 5(1)(c)(ii) and 5(1)(c)(iii) in the
Citizenship Act once these provisions are in force.
Again
alphazip has this mostly right. The only quibble I have is that not everyone is required to file a Canadian tax return, and in particular a PR might meet the applicable requirements to file a return while not actually filing a return for a given year (in any year that individual is not required to file a return). Failure to file a return when required, however, will be grounds to deny citizenship, unless the applicant has met the requirements in four of the other years. Moreover, I suspect this provision will be employed to require applicants to submit copies of their Notices of Assessment, at least some applicants, which new information sharing provisions in the statutory and regulatory provisions will allow CIC to directly verify with the CRA.
