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Next week I will be returning to Canada for a short visit after moving permanently to the United States. I have lived in the United States for 4 years now, and am now a Permanent Resident.

When I declare my customs form (form E311), am I a visitor to Canada or a resident? I am asking, because I am wondering if I need to declare that I have over $800CAD of goods purchased outside of Canada, and would therefore need to pay a large amount of taxes on those goods.

I imagine that I am not a resident of Canada, because, well, I don't live there. But I can't find what the definition of "resident" is, so I don't know if me being a Canadian citizen makes me a resident for their purposes.

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I called the CBSA's Border Information Service (BIS) number and they confirmed that I would indeed by a visitor.

Referring to this document: https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d2/d2-6-1-eng.html I see:

  1. Similarly, non-residents are persons who, in the settled routine of their life, make their home, reside, and are ordinarily present in a place outside Canada.

That seems to apply to me. I will be checking "Visitor" on my customs declaration.

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I am not sure about this but your resident status can be found by calling CRA. Do you have a valid health card, driver's license, or any property in Canada? If so, CRA probably deems you as a resident.

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  • You are allowed to keep a drivers license for several years after you leave Canada, and to own property whether or not you live in Canada, so they are not good tests.
    – DJClayworth
    Commented Apr 6, 2022 at 20:07

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