Worked cases

Keeping your permanent residence comes down to days in Canada, and so does much of becoming a citizen. Each case here takes one situation, puts its dates in the calculator, and works the answer through from the official rules — what it is, why, and what would change it.

To count your own: the citizenship calculator or the PR card calculator. The rules themselves, one question at a time: the guides.

Keeping your PR: the 730 days

Renewing a PR card after two years abroad: By this count, two years away can still leave the 730 days: the five years before this renewal hold 1,092 days in Canada, 362 more than needed.
Renewing a PR card after three years abroad: By this count, more than three years away leaves the 730 short: 624 days in the five years before this renewal. Staying, it reaches 730 again on 30 June 2027.
PR card expiring after 14 months away: do you still have the 730?: By this count, 14 months abroad in your first five years leaves 1,401 days in Canada by the fifth anniversary — 671 more than the 730.
Landed as a PR, then left: can you still make the 730?: By this count, landing and then 21 months abroad still leaves 1,177 days by the fifth anniversary. Citizenship waits for every day away.
Can’t reach 730 days by your fifth PR anniversary: what happens: By this count, three years abroad leaves 175 days short at the fifth anniversary, even staying from now on. Staying, the rolling count reaches 730 on 29 June 2028.
Your first five years as a PR: how much time abroad is left?: By this count, all of it: a PR since August 2023 with two trips behind them would still have 1,077 days by the fifth anniversary, away until then.
PR for more than five years: which five years count for the 730?: The five years before the day you apply or are examined — so an old trip stops counting. By this count, 1,644 days in Canada for a renewal on 2 November 2026.
Leaving Canada for six months: will you keep your PR?: By this count, six months abroad keeps the 730 with 886 days to spare for a PR since 2021. The police certificate rule is a separate count.
A year abroad before your fifth PR anniversary: does the 730 hold?: By this count, a year away that runs past the fifth anniversary still leaves 1,418 days on the tightest day — 688 more than the 730.

When you reach 1,095 days

PR since March 2024: when can you apply for citizenship?: By this count, a PR since 15 March 2024 with 37 days of trips reaches 1,095 days on 21 April 2027: the third anniversary, plus a day for every day away.
Is 1,095 days three years? Not when a leap day falls inside: By this count, a PR since 2 June 2025 who never leaves reaches 1,095 days on 1 June 2028 — a day before the third anniversary, because of 29 February 2028.
Should you apply the day you reach 1,095 days?: IRCC encourages applying with more than 1,095. By this count, this case reaches 1,095 on 4 December 2026; signing on 3 January 2027 leaves 30 days to spare.
Will a trip before your date delay your citizenship?: By this count, a 44-day trip before the date moves it 44 days later. The same trip taken after the date moves it not at all.
Away for years after becoming a PR: when do the 1,095 days come?: By this count, three years abroad right after landing put the 1,095 days at 31 August 2025: the five years before you sign can hold at most 731 days away.

Time in Canada before PR

Two years as a student before PR: when is citizenship?: By this count, two years studying in Canada before PR is the most the half-day credit gives, 365 days: the 1,095 come 730 days after PR.
One year as a worker before PR: how much sooner is citizenship?: By this count, 182 days sooner: a year on a work permit is 182.5 days of credit, and half a day can’t be signed on, so the date rounds up.
Four years on a work permit before PR: how much counts?: By this count, 365 days — the cap — and only time inside the five years before you sign. Four years of permits give the same date as two.
Half a day short of 1,095: does it count?: No: 1,094.5 is short of 1,095. By this count, time before PR that ends in a half pushes the date to the next day: 4 January 2026 in this case.
Studied in Canada years before PR: does that time count?: Only inside the five years before you sign. By this count, study that ended on 31 August 2019 gives no credit to a PR since 2024: the date is 1 June 2027.
Trips abroad before PR: how much do they cost your citizenship date?: By this count, about half their days: 90 days away before PR moved this date by 45, because a day before PR was only ever worth half.
Protected person before PR: which days count towards citizenship?: Only from the day the claim was approved. By this count, that puts this case at 8 April 2026; counting from the claim would wrongly say 31 January 2026.
Months as a visitor before PR: do they count towards citizenship?: Yes, by half, while your visitor status was valid. By this count, 184 days as a visitor bring this citizenship date 92 days closer.

Trips and your citizenship date

How many days can you be outside Canada and still have 1,095?: By this count, 731 in the five years before you sign, if you were a PR for all of them — one more when two leap days fall inside. This case used 252.
A three-month trip: how much later is your citizenship date?: By this count, exactly its days away: 91. A PR since 8 January 2024 moves from 7 January 2027 to 8 April 2027 with three months abroad.
Home every Christmas: when do you reach 1,095 days?: By this count, 56 days later than staying put: 25 September 2026 for a PR since 1 August 2023 home for Christmas three times.
Frequent work trips abroad: how far do they push citizenship?: By this count, by every full day away: eight work trips, 108 days, put a PR since 2022 at 18 January 2026. Each one is declared.
You have your 1,095 days: can you travel before you apply?: By this count, yes — here the count still holds after the trip: 1,588 days in the five years before 1 December 2027. Count again on the day you sign.

Time abroad that counts for the PR card

Abroad with a Canadian-citizen spouse: do those days count for the 730?: For the PR card, yes. By this count, 3 years abroad with a citizen spouse leave 1,826 days for a renewal; counted as away, 580.
Working abroad for a Canadian employer: does it count for the 730?: If you were assigned there full time, yes. By this count, 3 years in Singapore then leave 1,826 days for a renewal; counted as away, 550.

Does the day you leave count?

Friday to Sunday: how many days away is a weekend trip?: By this count, 1 full day: the day you leave and the day you come back are days in Canada. Four long weekends away move this citizenship date 8 days.
Same-day trips to the US: do they count against your 1,095 days?: No days lost, but every trip declared. By this count, seven trips back the same day or the next leave a PR since 2023 at 28 February 2026, as if never away.