To be qualified for citizenship in Canada, many candidates must have been residing in Canada for a minimum period of 3 years during the last five years directly before the date they sign their application for citizenship. This is what Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) describes as the physical availability conditions for citizenship in Canada. In some situations, the estimation of time spent in Canada only identifies the days a candidate resides in Canada after becoming a permanent resident.
Note: Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada motivates citizenship candidates with over three years of residing in Canada to apply when there is an issue with the estimation.
Hence, candidates can also make use of some time spent in Canada as a temporary resident or secured individual toward this prerequisite. Instruments such as a citizenship calculator can assist potential Canadian citizenship candidates in calculating when they may be qualified to make an application for citizenship in Canada.
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IRCC’s Explanation of a Temporary Resident and Protected Individual
Critically, Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) describes the phrase Temporary Resident and Protected Individuals, making use of the following explanations.
Temporary Residents
Temporary residents are international citizens endorsed to go into or live in Canada as guests, students, employees, or temporary resident permit holders.
Protected Individual
A protected individual is a person who may have been discovered to require safety or was evaluated as a convention refugee by the Immigration and Refugee Board or obtained a positive conclusion on a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment from Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Refugee claimants, including the individuals attached to a family member’s refugee assertion, will only be granted time in Canada starting after the claimant obtains a favorable conclusion verifying they are protected.
How to Estimate Time Spent in Canada Based on Your Canadian Status
In the situation of temporary residents and protected individuals all over Canada, Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada explains that every day lived in Canada within the last 5 years is calculated as one day for physical availability estimations.
Furthermore, it is crucial to understand that temporary residents and protected individuals in Canada can only make use of a maximum of one year towards their time spent in the country. The remaining time estimated toward this condition must be spent in Canada after becoming a permanent resident. Using these instances below, we will explain the way candidates with various statuses in Canada apply before applying to become a citizen.
Temporary Residents of Brian
Brian will be signing his Canadian citizenship request on 24th March 2025. Having landed in Canada as a foreign student in September 2020, Brian became a permanent resident in 2023. Brian has stayed in Canada every day since he landed as a foreign student.
The date the request was signed: Brian made an application for citizenship on 24th March 2025.
- The five-year duration used to estimate Brian’s physical availability in Canada is 24 March 2020 to 23 March 2025.
- Time before 24th March 2020 cannot be calculated.
- Brian has not spent time outside Canada since he landed, but IRCC stated that any days when a candidate was not physically present in the country can not be calculated.
24th March 2024 cannot be calculated because citizenship candidates must satisfy the conditions the day before they apply for citizenship.
Note: Brian landed in Canada as a foreign student on 4 September 2020 and formally became a permanent resident on 6 January 2023.
The period spent as a temporary resident is from 4 September 2020 to 5 January 2023.
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Since every day is calculated as one and a half days towards this estimation with a maximum of one year, Brian can make use of one year spent as a temporary resident toward his physical availability condition.
Duration as a permanent resident begins from 6 January 2023 to 23 March 2025 (808 days). These days can be calculated towards his physical availability condition. So, 365 days of temporary residency, plus 808 days of permanent residency, will amount to 1,173 days.
Protected Individual with Mary
Mary landed in Canada as a protected individual in 2022. She will be signing his Canadian citizenship request on 16th July 2025. Mary became a permanent resident in early 2024. Mary has stayed in Canada every single day since she landed as a protected individual.
Date the application was signed: Mary made an application for citizenship on 16th July 2025.
- The five-year duration used to estimate Mary’s physical availability in Canada is from 16th July 2020 to 15th July 2025.
- Time before 16th July 2020 cannot be estimated
- Mary did not spend any time outside of Canada since she landed.
16th July 2025 can not be calculated since citizenship application is required to satisfy the conditions the day before they made an application for citizenship.
Note: Mary landed in Canada as a protected individual on 20th May 2022 and formally became a permanent resident on 19th February 2024.
The time spent as a protected individual is from 20th May 2022 to 18th February 2024, which is 640 days)
Since every day is calculated as 0.5 days towards this estimation, which is a maximum of 365 days, Mary can make use of 320 days spent as a temporary resident towards his physical availability conditions.
Time spent as a permanent resident is from 19th February 2024 to 15th July 2025, which is 513 days.
The entire 513 days can be calculated towards his physical availability conditions. So, 320 days for temporary residents, plus 513 days for permanent residents, will amount to 833 days.
Permanent Resident for Kelly
Kelly has been in Canada as a permanent resident since 2017, and he will be signing her application for Canadian citizenship on 6th June 2024. In 2019, between the 4th of January and the 18th of August, Kelly returned to his home nation to attend to private issues.
Date the application was signed: Kelly made an application for citizenship on 6th June 2024.
- The five-year duration utilized to count Kelly’s physical availability in Canada is from 6 June 2019 to 5 June 2024.
- Period before 6th June 2019 will not be calculated
- Kelly spent 227 days outside Canada from 4 January to 18 August 2019, implying that these periods can not be estimated based on her physical availability conditions.
6th June 2024 can not be calculated since citizenship candidates must satisfy the conditions the day before they apply for citizenship. Time spent as a permanent resident between qualified dates is from 6th June 2019 to 5th June 2024, which is 1,827 days.
Hence, not every 1,827 days can be calculated towards his physical availability conditions because time stayed outside of Canada, which is 227 days, is required to be excluded from that total.
So, 1,827 days of permanent residency, subtracting 227 days spent outside Canada will amount to 1,600 days.
More Information Concerning the Physical Presence Conditions for Canadian Citizenship
It is crucial to understand that every adult candidate must satisfy the physical presence conditions to qualify for citizenship in Canada.
Minors Applying for Canadian Citizenship are Required to Satisfy the Physical Presence Condition
Particularly, Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada demonstrate that minors without a parent or guardian in Canada who are making an application for citizenship at the same time are needed to satisfy the same physical presence conditions as adult candidates.
