International students in Canada

If you're an international student studying in Canada, you may have to file a Canadian income tax return. You must determine your residency status to know how you'll be taxed in Canada.

• Residency status
  • What are residential ties?
• Determining your residency status
  • Deemed resident
  • Deemed non-resident
• Your tax obligations
• For more information...
  • Fact sheet - Are you an international student studying in Canada?
  • IT-221, Determination of an Individual's Residence Status

Residency status

For income tax purposes, international students studying in Canada are considered to be one of the following types of residents:

• resident (includes students who reside in Canada only part of the year)
• non-resident
• deemed resident
• deemed non-resident

Residency status is based on the residential ties you have with Canada.

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 dependents in Canada
• 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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Determining your residency status

In general, you probably don't have significant residential ties with Canada if you:

• return to your home country on a periodic basis or for a significant amount of time in the calendar year; or
• remove yourself to another country when not attending university in Canada.

However, many international students who study or carry on research in Canada do establish significant residential ties with Canada because they're often supported by Canadian-source grants that cover several years of study or research.

You're a resident of Canada for tax purposes if you establish residential ties with Canada.

You're a non-resident of Canada for tax purposes if you don't establish residential ties with Canada and you're here for less than 183 days during the year.

Deemed resident

If you don't establish significant residential ties with Canada, you may be a deemed resident of Canada for tax purposes if you:

• stay in Canada for 183 days or more in a calendar year; and
• are not considered a resident of your home country under the terms of a tax treaty between Canada and that country.

Deemed non-resident

You may be a deemed non-resident for tax purposes if you're otherwise a deemed resident of Canada who, under a tax treaty, is considered a resident of another country.

Your tax obligations

Your residency status determines your income tax return filing requirements in Canada:

• If you've established residential ties with Canada, follow the filing requirements for newcomers to Canada.
• If you haven't established residential ties and aren't deemed to be a resident of Canada, follow the filing requirements for non-residents of Canada.
• If you're a deemed resident of Canada, follow the filing requirements for deemed residents.
• If you're a deemed non-resident of Canada, please see deemed non-resident.