Canadian PR Residency Obligation Calculator
Are you still meeting the 730-day rule?
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How many days must a Canadian permanent resident spend in Canada?
730 days in every rolling five-year period. The days do not have to be continuous, and the window moves with you: it is always the five years immediately before whatever date is being assessed, whether that is today, the day you apply to renew your PR card, or the moment a border officer looks at your file. Because the window rolls, a long absence eventually falls out of the calculation on its own — which is why this calculator lets you test a future date rather than only today.
What happens in my first five years as a permanent resident?
The test is softer, because nobody has 730 days on day one. Inside your first five years you comply as long as it is still possible to reach 730 days before your fifth anniversary — that is, the days you already have plus every day remaining still add up to 730. This calculator reports that separately, and tells you how many of the remaining days you would need to spend in Canada. Once your fifth anniversary passes, the ordinary rolling five-year test applies.
Does time outside Canada ever count towards the 730 days?
In specific situations, yes. Days count if you were accompanying a Canadian citizen who is your spouse, common-law partner or parent; if you were employed full-time outside Canada by a Canadian business or by the federal, provincial or territorial public service; or if you were accompanying a permanent resident spouse, partner or parent who was so employed. Each has to be documented — a posting by a Canadian employer is not the same as working remotely for one — but you can mark those periods in the trip list and they will be counted.
Do I lose my PR status the moment I fall below 730 days?
No. You stay a permanent resident until there is a formal determination — an officer's decision after an examination, a refused permanent resident travel document with the appeal exhausted, a removal order that comes into force, or your own voluntary renunciation. An expired PR card does not end your status either. What being short does is put your card renewal and your ability to board a flight back to Canada at risk, and it is the point at which advice from an immigration lawyer stops being optional.
Is this the same calculation as for citizenship?
No, and confusing the two is expensive. Citizenship needs 1,095 days in five years, gives half-day credit for time before permanent residence, and discards time spent in prison, on parole or on probation. The residency obligation needs 730 days, ignores everything before you landed, has no prison exclusion — the question is only where you physically were — and credits certain kinds of time abroad that citizenship does not. The same travel history produces two different totals.
How it works, and more about pr residency
730 days in five years, and the window rolls
A Canadian permanent resident must be physically in Canada for at least 730 days in every five-year period. The days need not be continuous, and there is no annual requirement — you could spend two straight years here and three straight years away and comply throughout.
The word doing the work is rolling. The window is always the five years immediately before whatever date is being assessed: today, the day you apply to renew your PR card, the moment a border officer opens your file. Because it moves with you, a long absence eventually falls out of the calculation by itself. That is why this calculator lets you set the assessment date to a day in the future — the useful question is usually not “do I comply now” but “will I still comply on the day I fly back”.
Your first five years are judged differently
Nobody has 730 days on the day they land, so inside your first five years the test is not whether you have the days but whether you can still get them. You comply as long as the days you already have plus every day left before your fifth anniversary still reach 730.
In practice that gives new permanent residents a great deal of room and then removes it suddenly. Someone who lands and immediately leaves for two years is still compliant — they could return and bank 730 days before their anniversary. The day it becomes arithmetically impossible, they are in breach. The calculator reports which side of that line you are on and how many of the remaining days you would need to spend here.
Time abroad that counts anyway
Three situations put days back in the column, and each has to be documented:
- Accompanying a Canadian citizen who is your spouse, common-law partner or parent.
- Employed full-time outside Canada by a Canadian business, or by the federal, provincial or territorial public service.
- Accompanying a permanent resident spouse, partner or parent who is themselves so employed.
The second is narrower than it reads. It means a Canadian business posting you abroad while you remain on its payroll and are expected to return — not working remotely from another country for a Canadian company, and not a contract with a Canadian client. IRCC assesses the assignment, not the employer’s address.
Being short is not the same as losing status
You remain a permanent resident until there is a formal determination: an officer’s decision after an examination, a refused permanent resident travel document with the appeal exhausted, a removal order that comes into force, or your own voluntary renunciation. An expired PR card does not end your status — the card is a travel document, not the status itself.
What being short does is create two practical problems. Your PR card renewal will be assessed against the obligation, and if you are outside Canada without a valid card you need a permanent resident travel document to board a commercial flight home — which is assessed against the same 730 days. There are humanitarian and compassionate grounds on which an officer may preserve status despite a breach, and there is a right of appeal. Both are situations for an immigration lawyer, not a calculator.
Do not confuse this with the citizenship count
| Residency obligation | Citizenship | |
|---|---|---|
| Days needed | 730 in five years | 1,095 in five years |
| Time before you landed | Ignored | Half a day each, up to 365 |
| Time in prison or on parole | Counts — you were here | Excluded |
| Certain time abroad | Counts, if documented | Only Crown servants |
The same travel history produces two different totals, which is why this site runs both calculators on the same trip list. If you are close on this one, check the citizenship calculator as well — people who are comfortably above 730 are often further from 1,095 than they expect.
Sources. Obligation and credited-time rules from IRCC’s pages on understanding permanent resident status and on time spent outside Canada. All figures on this page were read from IRCC in August 2026. This is not immigration advice and this site is not affiliated with the Government of Canada.