How to use this: tick a task when the answer or evidence is saved—not when someone has simply started it. Use the detailed Canadian guides before making tax, investment, pension, healthcare or property decisions.
Save your progress and download the quick-reference version
The checklist below keeps the major Canadian departure actions together. Your ticks stay in this browser, and the PDF is designed for the family's offline move folder.
Research from home
Moving from Canada family checklist
Use this from home to organise CRA tax, registered savings, pensions, provincial healthcare, property, records and family continuity before moving overseas.
How to use it: read the section above first, then tick an item when you have captured the answer or evidence in your own move folder. The PDF is the offline quick-reference version.
1Map the move before fixing the date
2Prepare CRA and departure-tax evidence
3Review savings, investments and pensions
4Replace healthcare and transfer family records
5Decide the home and complete Canadian admin
6Finish the first 90 days abroad
Six to twelve months before: find the decisions that control timing
Tax and accounts
Map residential ties, assets, registered plans, investments, pensions and ongoing Canadian income before transactions or dates are fixed.
Family continuity
Confirm destination immigration, schools, health underwriting, medicine and any care that cannot tolerate a gap.
Home and flexibility
Compare sale and rental evidence, non-resident administration, provider access and what a realistic return to Canada would require.
Three months before: build a portable family file
| Folder | What belongs in it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | Passports, citizenship, entry approvals, birth and marriage certificates, custody and consent. | Immigration, schools, travel and estate work. |
| Tax and accounts | Returns, travel and workdays, ties, assets, valuations, account details, beneficiaries and advice. | Residence, departure tax, withholding and long-term access. |
| Health | Provincial plan response, clinical summaries, medicines, immunisations, insurer terms and emergency contacts. | Continuity and claims during the move. |
| Education | Reports, references, curriculum, learning-support records and withdrawal confirmations. | Placement and a smoother school handover. |
| Property and pensions | Cost base, mortgage, insurance, lease or sale, CPP/QPP record, OAS history and provider messages. | Tax, cash flow and future payments. |
The final four weeks: notify with confirmed facts
- Confirm visas, travel, accommodation, overseas health cover and the first suitable hospital before ending essential protection.
- Submit applicable CRA, Service Canada and provincial actions through the current official route; keep confirmation.
- Update banks, investment and pension providers, lenders, insurers, schools, healthcare providers and utilities with accurate dates.
- Test CRA, Service Canada, banking, investment and insurer access without relying on a work email or soon-to-be-cancelled phone.
- Save offline copies of entry approvals, policies, family records and first-week contacts on more than one device.
- Photograph property condition, meters, serial numbers, luggage and high-value items before handover or travel.
First 90 days abroad: finish the departure
Complete destination registrations
Address, immigration, tax, school, healthcare and driving steps have their own deadlines.
Test the Canadian systems you kept
Log into banks, investments, pensions, insurance and property systems from the destination and fix weak recovery routes.
Keep the evidence live
Track travel, workdays, Canadian income, foreign tax, withholding, medical claims and property activity from day one.
Calendar the first filing cycle
Canadian and destination returns may use different dates, income measures and exchange methods.