Newcomers to Canada (immigrants)

The following information applies only for the first tax year that you're a new resident of Canada for tax purposes. After your first tax year in Canada, you're no longer considered a newcomer for tax purposes.

• Residency status
  • What are residential ties?
• Your tax obligations
  • Do you have to file?
  • Which tax package?
  • Filing due date
• Entitlement to credits and benefit payments
• For more information...
  • T4055, Newcomers to Canada
    (also available in Chinese)
  • T4133, Are You a Newcomer to Canada?
    (also available in Chinese)
  • RC4151, Settling in Canada
  • IT-221, Determination of an Individual's Residence Status
  • Foreign reporting

Residency status

You become a resident of Canada for tax purposes when you establish residential ties with Canada, usually on the date you arrive in Canada.

Newcomers who've established residential ties with Canada may include:

• protected persons
• people who've applied for or received landed immigrant status from Citizenship and Immigration Canada
• people who've received approval-in-principle from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, to stay in Canada.

If you broke off Canadian residential ties in an earlier year and left Canada, you will become a Canadian resident when you move back to Canada and re-establish your residential ties.

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What are residential ties?

Residential ties include:

• a home in Canada
• a spouse or common-law partner (see the definition in the General Income Tax and Benefit Guide) and dependants who move to Canada to live with you
• personal property in Canada, such as a car or furniture
• social ties in Canada.

Other ties that may be relevant include:

• a Canadian driver's licence
• a Canadian bank account or credit cards
• health insurance with a Canadian province or territory.

For more information, please see IT-221, Determination of an Individual's Residence Status.

If you would like an opinion about your residency status, please complete and submit Form NR74, Determination of Residency Status (Entering Canada).

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Your tax obligations

As a resident of Canada, you:

• must report "world income" (income from all sources both inside and outside Canada) on your Canadian income tax return
• must ensure that you pay the correct amount of taxes according to the law
• have the right and responsibility to verify your income tax status each year
• can claim all deductions, non-refundable tax credits, and refundable federal, provincial, or territorial credits that apply to you.

As a newcomer to Canada, you should be aware that:

• most individuals who reside in Canada file only one income tax return for the tax year
• that's because the Canadian government collects taxes on behalf of all provinces and territories except the Province of Quebec
  • If you live in the province of Quebec, you may need to file a separate provincial income tax return. For information about your provincial tax liability, contact the Ministère du Revenu du Québec.

Do you have to file?

As a resident of Canada for part or all of a tax year (January 1 to December 31), you must file a tax return if you:

• owe tax; or
• want to receive a refund because you paid too much tax in a tax year.

Even if you have no income to report or tax to pay, you may be eligible for certain payments or credits. In order to receive these payments or credits, you must file an income tax return.

• the GST/HST credit (goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax)
• Canada Child Tax Benefit payments
• provincial or territorial tax credits.

For other examples, please see "Do you have to file a return?" in the General Income Tax and Benefit Guide.

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Which tax package?

For the tax year that you're a newcomer to Canada and for each tax year that you continue to be a resident of Canada for tax purposes:

• use the General Income Tax and Benefit Guide and the forms book for the province or territory where you live on December 31 of the tax year.
  • Because tax rates and tax credits are different in each province and territory, it's important to use the correct forms booklet.
  • If you live in the province of Quebec, you may need to file a separate provincial income tax return. For information about your provincial tax liability, contact the Ministère du Revenu du Québec.

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Filing due date

Generally, your income tax return has to be filed on or before:

• April 30 of the year after the tax year; or
• if you or your spouse or common-law partner carried on a business in Canada (other than a business whose expenditures are mainly in connection with a tax shelter), the return has to be filed on or before June 15 of the year after the tax year.

Entitlement to credits and benefit payments

As a newcomer to Canada, you may be eligible for the goods and services/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) credit and/or the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB) and/or the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) payments in the year you became a resident of Canada.

• To apply for the GST/HST credit, complete Form RC151, GST/HST Credit Application for Individuals Who Become Residents of Canada.
• To apply for the CCTB payments, complete Form RC66, Canada Child Tax Benefit Application. Depending upon your immigration and residency status, you may also have to complete the schedule Status in Canada/Statement of Income.