If you were a permanent resident the day before the current Act came in, you became a permanent resident under it automatically, with no application and no fee. Time spent outside Canada while holding a returning resident permit counts toward the residency obligation, both for the five years before the change and for the two years after it. The old permit did not become worthless overnight.
(1)A person who was a permanent resident immediately before the coming into force of this section is a permanent resident under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
(2)Any period spent outside Canada within the five years preceding the coming into force of this section by a permanent resident holding a returning resident permit is considered to be a period spent in Canada for the purpose of satisfying the residency obligation under section 28 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act if that period is included in the five-year period referred to in that section.
(3)Any period spent outside Canada within the two years immediately following the coming into force of this section by a permanent resident holding a returning resident permit is considered to be a period spent in Canada for the purpose of satisfying the residency obligation under section 28 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act if that period is included in the five-year period referred to in that section.