Guides to your days in Canada
Becoming a Canadian citizen and keeping your permanent residence both come down to days in Canada. Each guide answers one question about those days from IRCC’s own pages, with the calculator where it helps.
Becoming a citizen: the 1,095 days
To count your own: the citizenship calculator.
- When can I apply for citizenship after PR?
- When the five years before the day you sign hold 1,095 days in Canada, at least 730 as a PR. With no trips or time before PR, that is three years after you became one.
- How IRCC counts your days: departures, returns and day trips
- The day you leave Canada and the day you come back both count as days in Canada. A trip from 1 to 15 July is 13 days away. How the 1,095 days are counted.
- IRCC’s physical presence calculator: with a login, and without
- If you apply online, IRCC’s physical presence calculator is in your online account. To check your 1,095 days first, its calculator for paper applications needs no login.
- Does time before PR count towards citizenship?
- Yes, by half: each day in Canada as a temporary resident or protected person in the five years before you sign counts as half a day, up to 365 days of credit.
- Travel history for your citizenship application: what to list
- List every absence from Canada in the five years before you sign, with exact dates, for any reason — same-day trips, work travel and trips from before PR included.
- Your CBSA travel history report: how to get it, and when not to ask
- For a citizenship application you don’t need to request your CBSA travel history: IRCC can collect it. Otherwise, asking for your own is free and can take up to 30 days.
- Can I leave Canada after applying for citizenship?
- Yes, once IRCC has your application, if you keep your PR status, answer IRCC’s mail in time, and come back for the test (18 to 54), any interview and the ceremony.
- Citizenship fees in 2026: CA$653 for an adult
- IRCC’s fee for an adult citizenship application is CA$653, which includes the CA$123 right of citizenship fee. A minor’s is CA$100. There is no separate test fee.
Keeping your PR status: the 730 days
To count your own: the PR card calculator.
- How long can a PR stay outside Canada?
- To keep PR status you need 730 days in Canada in every five-year period. They don’t have to be in a row, and some time abroad counts towards them.
- PR card expired outside Canada: the PRTD and your 730 days
- An expired PR card doesn’t end PR status. To fly back without a valid card you need a permanent resident travel document (CA$50), and IRCC checks your 730 days.