Re-entering Canada - Questions 

Mr. ahmed

Posts: 4

Hello Tmilovic,

Thank you for sharing your situation and questions with us.

It is great that you are looking into this type of information.

Regarding your question, generally, to find out if someone has fulfilled their residency requirements, each time a Permanent Resident re-enters Canada, the Officer will count back 5 years from the date the permanent resident has re-entered Canada.

In that 5 year period, if the permanent resident has not accumulated 2 years (730 days) of physical presence in Canada, then it may be determined that the permanent resident has lost their PR status.

You can find information on the process that is followed when entering Canada in this Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) ENF 23 - Loss of Permanent Resident Status manual.

Here is an excerpt from the manual on what happens at the port of entry,

2. Program objectives

IRPA establishes a residency obligation with respect to each five-year period after permanent resident status has been granted.

and

"7.8 Examining Permanent Residents at a POE (Port of Entry)

When a permanent resident appears at a POE for examination, the officer must confirm that the person is a permanent resident. Officers must remain cognizant of the fact the Act gives permanent residents of Canada the right to enter Canada at a port of entry once it is established that a person is a Permanent Resident, regardless of non-compliance with the residency obligation in A28 or the presence of other grounds of inadmissability.

Port of entry officers (POE) can refuse entry to a Permanent Resident only when the person has already lost the status in accordance with the provisions of A46 (such as when a final determination has been made that they have failed to comply with the residency obligations or when a removal order comes into force).

In other words, once a permanent resident's status is established, the person may enter Canada by right and the immigration examination under IRPA concludes.

The onus is on each individual permanent resident to meet their own residency requirements. This means that it is up to you to ensure that you are meeting the residency requirement within each 5 year period and that you are also keeping track of your time spent inside and outside Canada.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you are fulfilling your residency obligation.

In terms of proofs either to prove that you were in Canada or that you were outside of Canada you may want to keep:

*Airplane tickets/boarding passes
*Bus tickets/boarding passes
*Accomodation/Apartment information such as Lease, Rent Receipts for the time that you are in Canada
*Hotel receipts

And any other documents that can prove the time you were present in Canada in the event that you were questioned by an immigration officer and asked to provide proof of your time in/outside of Canada.

According to the the Citizenship and Immigration Canada Operations Manual - Chapter ENF 23 - Loss of Permanent Resident Status,

Put simply, this means that the permanent resident bears the full responsibility of demonstrating - with supporting documentation as considered necessary by an officer -that they were physically present in Canada for the required number of days or that they have otherwise met (or will be able to meet) the residency obligation as prescribed in the Act.

The permanent resident also bears the onus of presenting documentation that is credible, in the opinion of an officer, to support any assertion(s) made by the permanent resident, or that may have been made on behalf of that permanent resident. There is no one document that can categorically establish a permanent resident’s physical presence in Canada.

I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.

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Anna
Settlement.Org Content and Information/Referral Specialist, CIRS
Settlement.Org