At a glance
- The test
- Sojourning in Canada for 183 days or more in a calendar year (Income Tax Act s250(1)(a)). Residential ties are tested separately.
- Period
- Calendar year. The days do not have to be consecutive.
- What counts as a day
- CRA treats any part of a day as a day of sojourning. Commuting days are not automatically sojourning.
The rule
Canadian residence has two routes. The first is factual: where a person, in the settled routine of life, regularly lives. CRA looks at residential ties. Significant ties are a home in Canada, a spouse or common-law partner, and dependants. Secondary ties include property, bank accounts and a driver's licence. Days are not the test.
The second route is s250(1)(a): a person who sojourned in Canada for 183 days or more in the year is treated as resident throughout the whole year, and taxed on worldwide income for that year (CRA Folio S5-F1-C1, para 1.32).
CRA counts any part of a day as a day. It says a person is not sojourning for every day present: the nature of each stay is looked at, and a commuter who returns abroad each night is a different case (para 1.33).
Section 250(5) can override all of this where a tax treaty makes the person resident of another country only.
How Atrium counts it
Atrium counts each calendar year separately. Any part of a day in Canada counts, including arrival and departure days. It shows how many days are left before 183 is reached.
Atrium counts every recorded day in Canada. Its Canada engine does not yet separate commuting days, which the law may not treat as sojourning. That makes the count more cautious than the statute for some people.
Atrium cannot weigh residential ties or treaty status. If you tell it you may live in Canada, it shows the days and says the question depends on your ties.
Quebec: Atrium has no separate Quebec count yet. It counts Canada days only.
What catches people out
- A person with few days in Canada can still be resident if their ties are strong. Under 183 days is not an answer.
- Part days count. An early flight out still uses the day.
- Reaching 183 days affects the whole calendar year, not only the days after day 183.
- Quebec has its own 183-day rule. Revenu Qu茅bec requires the person to be ordinarily resident outside Canada, and counts a day differently: one hour on a day is not a full day of stay.
- A treaty can change the result. Atrium does not test treaties.
Cases
Thomson: summers in Canada, a home in the United States
Supreme Court of Canada 路 1946 路 Thomson v. Minister of National Revenue, [1946] S.C.R. 209; 1946 CanLII 1 (SCC) Source
Percy Thomson lived in New Brunswick until he retired in 1923, then moved to the United States. He kept a Canadian home and spent summers there. For 1940 he said he was only a visitor and filed no Canadian return. The majority held he was resident or ordinarily resident in Canada, looking at his pattern of life: how often he came, his family, his home and his occupation. Taschereau J dissented.
The court asked where the settled routine of life was, not how many days he spent. This is the reason s250(1)(a) is a separate, day-based rule for people who only sojourn.
Laurin: when a person leaves for work abroad
Federal Court of Appeal 路 2008 路 Canada v. Laurin, 2008 FCA 58, decision of 13 February 2008 Source
The Crown appealed a Tax Court of Canada decision that allowed Jean Maurice Laurin's appeals from assessments for 1996 to 2000. The only issue was whether he was resident in Canada in those years. The Federal Court of Appeal agreed with the Crown's statement that a person is resident where, in the settled routine of life, they regularly, normally or customarily live. It saw no basis to disturb the Tax Court's finding that he was not resident, and dismissed the appeal.
Residence was decided on the facts of how he lived. The reported decision does not turn on a day total and does not repeat the facts.
Sources
- Income Tax Act s250 (Justice Laws)
- CRA Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, Determining an individual's residence status
- Revenu Qu茅bec IMP. 8-1/R2, Particulier qui s茅journe au Qu茅bec (31 March 2023)
- Thomson v. MNR [1946] S.C.R. 209 (CanLII Connects summary)
- Canada v. Laurin, 2008 FCA 58
Based on the sources above, last reviewed on 2026-10-04. Educational content, not tax advice. Atrium counts days; whether those days make you resident is for you and your adviser to decide.