How many days for Canadian citizenship? Count them

You need 1,095 days of physical presence in the five years before you sign your application. Days as a permanent resident count in full. Days in Canada before PR count as half days, and that credit stops at 365, so at least 730 of the 1,095 days must be days as a PR. With no time in Canada before PR, that means about three years as a PR.

The eligibility period is the five years just before the date you sign your citizenship application. Count back five years from that date: with leap years, the window is 1,826 or 1,827 days. Add your days as a PR in the window and half your days in Canada before PR (up to 365), and leave out full days abroad. The window moves forward each day you wait.

It depends on how the child applies. Section 5(2) of the Citizenship Act covers a permanent resident child of a Canadian citizen, and its conditions do not include the 1,095 days. A minor whose application falls under section 5(1), made by a parent or guardian, faces the same 1,095-day rule as an adult. Children under 18 do not take the test or meet the language requirement.

A day counts when you are physically in Canada, and IRCC counts the day you leave and the day you return as days in Canada, so only the full days between them are absences. Days in prison, on parole or on probation do not count, and neither does time waiting for a refugee claim decision. A trip from July 1 to July 15 is 13 days away.

No. Keeping permanent resident status is a separate rule: at least 730 days in Canada in every rolling five-year period, under IRPA section 28, with no half days for time before PR. Some days abroad, such as time accompanying a Canadian-citizen spouse, can count toward the 730. This calculator counts only the 1,095-day citizenship rule.

Yes, at half value. Each day you were in Canada as a temporary resident or protected person before becoming a permanent resident counts as half a day, up to a credit of 365 days. Reaching that cap takes 730 days in Canada before PR, inside your five-year window. Days before PR that fall outside that window do not count.

Then the count keeps growing while you wait: each new day in Canada adds to it, and days older than five years drop out of the window. The calculator finds the first date your count reaches 1,095, assuming no trips beyond the ones you entered. IRCC's official calculator gives the count IRCC uses, and an officer decides.