Physical Presence Calculator

As a permanent resident, you need 1,095 days of time in Canada during the five years right before you apply. Nothing outside that five-year window counts. Within those five years, every day spent in Canada while holding permanent resident status is a full day.

Days outside Canada do not count, including any time you spent serving a sentence in another country.

Write down every trip you made outside Canada over the past five years. A record of your trips can help you check your time in Canada; you do not need to include your travel journal with your application.

No. Days spent in prison, on parole, or on probation do not count as days in Canada. Since the look-back period is only the five years before you apply, a sentence that ended before then will not hurt your count.

If you want to apply online, you still have to use the calculator in your online account. It figures out how many days you have spent in Canada. Online applications are not open to everyone right now, so it helps to check your eligibility first.

If applying online is not an option, complete How to Calculate Physical Presence (CIT 0407) and hand in a printed copy.

Reaching your day count is a big step, but a few other things must also be in place before you apply. It is best to hold off on applying until every requirement is met. Other requirements include the following:

• Permanent resident status. Your status must be free of unfulfilled conditions, and it cannot be under review over immigration or fraud concerns.
• Income tax. You must have filed your taxes as required in three tax years that fall fully or partly inside the five years leading up to your application.
• Language. Some adults have to demonstrate speaking and listening ability in English or French.

CLB level 4 is a basic level: it shows you can handle brief, everyday chats about familiar subjects. Applicants aged 18 to 54 must submit documents showing you meet CLB level 4 or higher in speaking and listening.

Proof can include your scores from a language training program funded by the government.

Yes, it can. The following situations can prevent you from becoming a citizen, even if you have enough days in Canada:

• You are in Canada serving a prison sentence, or you are on parole or probation.
• You are currently serving a sentence in another country.
• You have been charged with, are being tried for, or are appealing an offence under the Citizenship Act, or a serious offence treated as indictable in Canada.
• You were found guilty within the previous four years of a serious offence treated as indictable in Canada, or of breaking the Citizenship Act.
• In the past four years, another country found you guilty of something equal to an indictable offence in Canada, even if you received a pardon or another amnesty.
• Misrepresentation led to a refusal of one of your citizenship applications within the previous five years.
• Fraud caused you to lose your Canadian citizenship within the previous ten years.
• You are being investigated for, charged with, on trial for, appealing, or were convicted of a war crime or crime against humanity.
• While a permanent resident, you were convicted of terrorism, treason or spying, or served in an armed force or group that was in armed conflict with Canada.

Crimes called indictable in Canada are the more serious kind. If a sentence, parole, or probation is part of your life right now, it may be worth checking your eligibility again once it ends.

Children under 18 usually become citizens through a parent's application, with a parent who is a citizen or who applies at the same time, and they do not need the 1,095 days. The official eligibility page sets out the ways a minor can apply.

Right now, processing a citizenship grant takes about 12 months, based on the government's current processing times. That number can shift, so we suggest another look when you are ready to apply.