Departure Checklist

Track your progress as you prepare to leave Canada. Your progress is saved automatically.

Overall Progress

0 of 44 tasks

complete

12 months: 0/76 months: 0/83 months: 0/71 month: 0/8Day of: 0/4Ongoing: 0/10

Tax Planning

Financial

Administrative

Insurance

Property

Legal

Benefits

Consult a cross-border tax professional

Discuss your specific situation including departure tax, treaty benefits, and ongoing obligations

Consider filing Form NR-73

Request a non-binding tax residency opinion from CRA to understand your status

Review non-registered investment portfolio

Assess departure tax implications on deemed dispositions

Analyze liquidation vs holding strategy

Determine if selling positions before departure makes financial sense

Research tax treaty with destination country

Understand treaty benefits for pensions, investments, and withholding rates

Consult legal counsel in both countries

Review wills, powers of attorney, and estate planning implications

Research destination tax system

Understand local tax obligations, residency rules, and filing requirements

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What the checklist covers

Leaving Canada properly is mostly a sequencing problem: dozens of tasks, each easy on its own, that go wrong when they happen in the wrong order or too late. This checklist organizes 44 tasks into six phases — starting a year before departure, stepping down through 6 months, 3 months, 1 month, departure day, and the months after you land.

The early phases are strategy: getting cross-border tax advice, reviewing your investments while you can still act on them, and researching how your destination taxes Canadian income. The middle phases turn strategy into logistics — telling banks, brokerages, and insurers about your coming non-resident status, deciding what happens to your home, and untangling the residential ties that determine whether the CRA still considers you a resident. The final phases deal with the taxes themselves: estimating departure tax, filing your final return, setting up non-resident withholding on income you keep receiving, and the section 216 and 217 elections that can shrink it.

Your progress saves automatically in your browser, so you can work through the list over the months it actually takes. The checklist is a planning aid, not advice — several items exist precisely to put a cross-border professional's eyes on your specific situation.

Leaving Canada FAQ

What do I need to do before leaving Canada?

The big categories are tax planning (residency, departure tax, treaty research), money (notify banks and brokerages of your non-resident status, decide what stays and what moves), property (sell, rent out, or keep your home, and understand the principal residence rules), government benefits (CPP, OAS, GIS eligibility abroad), health coverage, and documents. This checklist breaks those into 44 concrete tasks in the order you'll need them.

When should I start planning my move out of Canada?

About a year before you leave. The earliest tasks — consulting a cross-border tax professional, reviewing your investment portfolio, and researching the tax treaty with your destination — shape every later decision, and some strategies (like realizing gains or losses before departure) only work if you act well ahead of your departure date.

Do I need to tell my bank and the CRA that I'm leaving?

Yes to both. Banks and investment firms need your non-resident status on file so they apply the correct withholding tax and restrict services they can't offer non-residents. The CRA learns your departure date from your final tax return for the year you leave — that date determines when departure tax applies and when Part XIII withholding takes over.

What happens to my provincial health card and driver's licence?

Provincial health coverage ends when you cease to be a resident of the province — most provinces require you to notify them, and coverage typically stops within a few months of departure, so arrange international health insurance before you leave. Your driver's licence is a residential tie, so plan whether to keep or surrender it as part of your residency strategy.

What taxes do I face when I leave Canada?

Three layers. First, departure tax: a deemed disposition of most of your assets at fair market value on the day you become a non-resident. Second, your final Canadian return for the year of departure. Third, ongoing Part XIII withholding on Canadian-source income you keep receiving — CPP, OAS, pensions, RRSP withdrawals, and rent — with optional elections under sections 217 and 216 that can reduce it.

Is my checklist progress saved?

Yes, automatically in your browser's local storage. No account is needed, and nothing is sent to a server — but it also means your progress won't follow you to a different browser or device.

What the checklist covers

Leaving Canada FAQ

What do I need to do before leaving Canada?

When should I start planning my move out of Canada?

Do I need to tell my bank and the CRA that I'm leaving?

What happens to my provincial health card and driver's licence?

What taxes do I face when I leave Canada?

Is my checklist progress saved?

Yes, automatically in your browser's local storage. No account is needed, and nothing is sent to a server — but it also means your progress won't follow you to a different browser or device.

Departure Checklist

1 Year Before

6 Months Before

3 Months Before

1 Month Before

Departure Day

After Departure

What the checklist covers

Leaving Canada FAQ

Find out what leaving actually costs.

Departure Checklist

1 Year Before

6 Months Before

3 Months Before

1 Month Before

Departure Day

After Departure

What the checklist covers

Leaving Canada FAQ

Departure Checklist

1 Year BeforeStart planning early for a smooth departure0/7

1 Year Before

6 Months BeforeBegin transitioning your financial life0/8

6 Months Before

3 Months BeforeFormalize your transition plans0/7

3 Months Before

1 Month BeforeFinal preparations and tax planning0/8

1 Month Before

Departure DayComplete final actions before leaving0/4

Departure Day

After DepartureOngoing obligations as a non-resident0/10

After Departure

What the checklist covers

Leaving Canada FAQ

Find out what leaving actually costs.

Departure Checklist

1 Year BeforeStart planning early for a smooth departure0/7

1 Year Before

6 Months BeforeBegin transitioning your financial life0/8

6 Months Before

3 Months BeforeFormalize your transition plans0/7

3 Months Before

1 Month BeforeFinal preparations and tax planning0/8

1 Month Before

Departure DayComplete final actions before leaving0/4

Departure Day

After DepartureOngoing obligations as a non-resident0/10

After Departure

What the checklist covers

Leaving Canada FAQ