Filing Canadian Taxes Every Year After Leaving Canada

Do I file a Canadian return every year after leaving Canada?

Not automatically. After the year you left, no single rule makes you file every year: each year is tested on its own facts under Income Tax Act s. 150: a non-resident files for a year only if Canadian income tax is payable, there was a taxable capital gain or a sale of taxable Canadian property, a Home Buyers' Plan or Lifelong Learning Plan balance remained at year end, or the CRA sent a demand. But some commitments recur: an approved Form NR6 or NR5, a TFSA contribution made while non-resident, or an OAS pension paid abroad makes a return or form due for each year it covers.

Run the same check every year, in this order:

1. Did a commitment cover this year (an approved NR6 or NR5, a TFSA contribution, or OAS outside the CRA's country exception)? Then a return or form is due.
2. Did the CRA send a demand to file for this year? Then a return is due, owing or not.
3. Did something happen in Canada this year (work, a business, a property sale)? Then a return is likely due.
4. Was all your Canadian income settled by the correct non-resident withholding? Then no return is required, though filing may bring money back.

A year stops being simple when several of these meet, when your new country also taxes the same income, or when earlier years were never filed. The full list of who files, which package and the due dates is in non-resident returns and catching up. This page assumes you are settled as a non-resident; if the CRA disagrees, see CRA still thinks you are a resident. The year you left has its own rules: see leaving Canada.

Gather each year: every NR4, T4, T4A and T4A-NR slip, any approved NR6 or NR5, your OAS statements, TFSA contribution records, a summary of Canadian rent and expenses, sale papers for any Canadian property sold, the days you spent working in Canada, and every CRA letter.

Which commitments make a return due every year until they end?

A few choices, once made, require a filing for each year they cover. Know which ones you have and when each one ends.

The plan balances rarely follow you past the departure year. When you stop being resident, any HBP amount not repaid within 60 days after you leave, and before you file, is added to your income for the year you left (s. 146.01(5)); the LLP has a matching rule (s. 146.02(5)). If a later CRA statement still shows a balance, ask the CRA why before deciding the year needs no return.

The CRA says filing on time helps keep Service Canada from suspending the pension, and a late return brings a penalty if recovery tax is owed. For OAS recipients outside the listed countries, this is the form that recurs every year, even in years with no other Canadian return.

Which one-off events make a single year need a return?

A year needs a return when something in it falls outside withholding. The usual triggers:

• Work done in Canada. Pay for duties performed in Canada, even a few weeks, can make tax payable. If the work is in Quebec and Quebec tax is payable, a Revenu Québec return is due too (Guide T4058). See working for a Canadian employer from abroad.
• A business carried on in Canada. Business income earned in Canada can make tax payable, and then that year needs a return, due June 15 when you carried on business in the year (s. 150(1)(d)), with any balance owing still due April 30. A tax treaty can exempt the profit, but the 15% withheld from fees for services done in Canada comes back only through a return.
• Canadian clients, work done abroad. Whether those fees need a Canadian return depends on where the work is done and whether you carry on business in Canada. See Canadian clients after moving abroad.
• Selling taxable Canadian property. A non-resident all year who disposes of Canadian real estate or other taxable Canadian property files for that year, apart from narrow excluded dispositions (s. 150(1.1)(b)(iii)). If you claimed capital cost allowance on a rental in earlier section 216 returns, a sale that recaptures it makes that year's section 216 return due by April 30 (Guide T4144). See non-residents selling Canadian property.
• A CRA demand to file. A demand must be answered for the year it names, whether or not you owe tax (s. 150(2)). See a CRA letter while living abroad.

A slip arriving does not decide it on its own; where the work was done and what the income is decide it. See Canadian slips after leaving.

Which years need nothing?

A year needs no Canadian return when all your Canadian income had non-resident tax correctly withheld and nothing else above applies. The CRA says the flat non-resident tax the payer withheld (Part XIII tax) is your final tax on that income if the correct amount was withheld, and you do not file a return to report it unless you elect to (CRA: Non-residents of Canada). Interest from an arm's-length payer (usually exempt from withholding, s. 212(1)(b)), dividends, rent without an NR6, and pensions without an NR5 usually fall here.

Still check two things that year: that the payer withheld at the right rate (see non-resident withholding slips), and whether an OAS Return of Income or TFSA return is due. If a payer withheld too little or nothing, the year is not settled: the payer is liable for the shortfall (s. 215(6)), and the CRA can assess you for it at any time (s. 227(10.1)). If you still own a Canadian corporation, its return is separate: it files for every year it is resident in Canada or carries on business there (s. 150(1)(a)). See close or keep your corporation.

When is filing worth it even if not required?

Filing can be worth it when tax was withheld that the return would give back. Common cases:

• Income tax withheld on a T4, T4A or T4A-NR for work done in Canada, including the 15% a payer withholds from fees for services performed in Canada, where your final tax is lower. Filing works out the refund (Guide T4058).
• A section 216 return on rent where tax on net rent is less than the withholding on gross rent. The CRA refunds the difference (Guide T4144). The return is due within two years after year end without an NR6.
• A section 217 return on pensions and benefits where your world income is low. It must be filed by June 30; a late election is not accepted. See pension and RRSP income.

Non-resident tax is not refunded by filing an ordinary return. The usual routes are these elections, or Form NR7-R for over-withholding, filed within 2 years after the end of the year the payer sent the tax to the CRA (CRA: Form NR7-R, Guide T4058, CRA: Non-residents of Canada). For an ordinary return, the CRA may still refund a late-filed year if the return is filed within 10 calendar years after the year ends, at its discretion (s. 164(1.5)). How refunds are paid abroad is in tax refund as a non-resident.

Does not filing tell the CRA anything?

Not filing tells the CRA nothing about why. Silence from the CRA is not proof that no return was needed. Payers still report what they paid you: each Canadian payer files NR4 slips with the CRA for amounts paid to non-residents (Guide T4061), and employers file T4 slips.

A year that needed a return and was not filed has no time limit. The usual limit on the CRA reopening a year starts only when it sends a notice of assessment for a filed return (s. 152(3.1)), so the CRA can assess an unfiled year at any time (s. 152(4)).

Should I tell the CRA I will not be filing?

There is no form for "no return this year." The step the CRA asks for is earlier: if you decide you do not need to file, let the CRA know the date you left Canada as soon as possible (CRA: Leaving Canada). Keep your foreign address current so a demand or review letter reaches you. How to do both is in telling the CRA you are leaving Canada.

What yearly records should I keep?

Keep one file per year that shows why that year did or did not need a return. The CRA asks people to keep tax documents and records for at least six years, including copies of returns and notices of assessment (CRA: keeping records). If a year needed a return and you did not file it, the period runs from the day you eventually file it (s. 230(5)); for a year that truly needed none, keep the file at least as long.

For each year, keep:

• Every Canadian slip (NR4, T4, T4A, T4A-NR) and the payer's withholding rate.
• Any NR6 or NR5 approval letter and the years it covers.
• TFSA contributions made after you left, and any withdrawals.
• OAS statements and the OAS Return of Income, or a note of which exception applied.
• A day count of time in Canada and what you did there (work, visits).
• Purchase and sale papers for any Canadian property sold.
• Every CRA letter and your reply.
• One line noting the decision: "no return: all income settled by withholding", or the return filed.

Example

These examples are illustrative; figures are in Canadian dollars.

Rent with and without an NR6

Omar left Canada in 2022 and rents out his Calgary condo for C$24,000 a year. He filed an NR6 for 2024 and the CRA approved it, so his 2024 section 216 return is required within six months after year end. For 2025 he does not file an NR6, and the tenant withholds 25% of the gross rent, C$6,000. His 2025 section 216 return is optional; he may still file it within two years, and if the tax on his net rent is less than C$6,000, the CRA refunds the difference.

Mixed years

Grace's only Canadian income in 2023 and 2024 is dividends with non-resident tax withheld: no return for either year. In 2025 she spends three weeks in Toronto working for a Canadian client. That year may need a return: fees for work done in Canada can make tax payable, depending on the tax treaty with her country, and if the client withheld tax on her fees, filing is how she may get some back. In 2026 she is back to dividends only: no return.

OAS every year

Wei, retired abroad, receives C$8,500 a year of OAS. Unless the CRA's exception for his country applies, he files an OAS Return of Income every year, even in years with no other Canadian return.

Different for you?

• Several triggers in one year, or tax in your new country on the same income: get help with the individual return.
• Years you never filed: get help with the individual return; the rules are in non-resident returns and catching up.
• A CRA demand to file or a review letter: get help with the individual return; see a CRA letter while living abroad.
• You still own a Canadian corporation: its yearly return is separate; get help with the corporate return.
• Rent and an NR6: see non-resident landlords.
• Pensions, RRSP payments or OAS: see pension and RRSP income.
• A slip you did not expect: see Canadian slips after leaving.
• The CRA still treats you as resident: see CRA still thinks you are a resident.
• The year you left: see leaving Canada.