Once I Am a Permanent Resident, What Are My Residency Requirements?

As a Permanent Resident, a new immigrant must understand the residency requirements so as not to lose status. Here, it’s important to know how long one must stay in Canada without losing PR status. In short, to maintain the full PR status, one must live in Canada for at least 2 years, within a 5-year period. The individual must be in the country physically. The 2-year period in Canada does not have to be continuous - immigration officers will determine the total time.

There are also certain situations where time spent outside of Canada can count towards the 2-year period that is considered mandatory.

• Those who are travelling with a spouse/partner who is a Canadian citizen
• A child who is travelling with a father/mother who is a Canadian citizen
• Someone who is an employee of a Canadian business or under contract
• Those travelling with a spouse/partner, who is a permanent resident and works
• fulltime for a Canadian business or for the public service (federal or provincial)
• A child travelling with a father/mother, who is a permanent resident and works
• fulltime for a Canadian business or for the public service (federal or provincial)
• An employee of the public service (federal or provincial) and on assignment to:
  • A fulltime position outside of Canada 
  • A partner business outside of Canada
  • A client of a Canadian business (or public service) outside of Canada

Beyond the primary guidelines for maintaining Permanent Resident status, a new immigrant must not engage in an activity that would compromise admissibility, like committing a federal crime. Permanent residents can also lose their status for contraventions like security breaches; human rights violations; misrepresentations; or participation in organized crime.

It’s important for new immigrants to understand that a Permanent Resident is not subject to the same legal privileges and protections as a Canadian citizen.