5. Keep your status

As a permanent resident, you’re allowed to travel outside Canada.

But if you travel your home country that you fled, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) can make an application to cancel your protected person status and permanent residence status.

You might also lose your permanent resident status if you spend too much time outside Canada. The “residency requirement” is a general rule that, over a period of 5 years, you must be in Canada for at least 2 years. That’s the same as 730 days. The 730 days don’t have to be one after the other. And part of a day counts as a full day.

You can use the Physical Presence Calculator to calculate the number of days that you have spent in Canada.

Being forced to leave Canada

Even as a permanent resident, you can be forced to leave Canada for security reasons or if you’re convicted of a serious crime.

A crime is serious and can lead to you being deported if:

• the maximum sentence you could get for the crime is 10 or more years in prison, even if you get a shorter sentence or spend no time in prison, or
• you get a sentence of more than 6 months in prison for a crime you commit in Canada.

If you have been charged with a crime or if the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) believes that you pose a security risk to Canada, you should get legal advice.