Moving From India to Canada Tax Checklist: Steps for Newcomers and NRIs

A moving from India to Canada tax checklist has two halves that run on different calendars: ending or changing your status in India, which uses the April-to-March year, and starting Canadian residency, which uses the calendar year. Doing the Indian steps late can leave you taxable in India on your Canadian earnings, and skipping the Canadian steps can mean paying tax on gains that never happened. This checklist is for people moving to Toronto, Mississauga, Calgary, Vancouver and elsewhere on permanent residence, work permits or study permits, and for NRIs who already hold Indian accounts, property and investments.

What does a moving from India to Canada tax checklist look like by stage?

How do you end Indian residency step by step?

1. Count days in the Indian tax year. Residence is decided for the whole year; there is no split. The Income Tax Department says the same 182-day and 60-plus-365 tests apply under the new Act for years beginning on or after April 1, 2026, while the 1961 Act governs earlier years. See the India residency guide.
2. Check the special rules. A citizen leaving for employment outside India needs 182 days to be resident. A citizen with Indian income above ₹15 lakh (excluding foreign sources) who is not taxable anywhere else can be deemed resident; becoming a Canadian tax resident avoids that rule.
3. Re-designate accounts. The RBI FAQ says that when a resident Indian becomes a person resident outside India, the existing resident account should be designated as an NRO account. Ask the bank to make the change in writing and open an NRE account for foreign earnings. See NRE, NRO and FCNR accounts.
4. Update KYC with mutual funds, brokers and insurers to NRI status, because the investment rules differ.
5. Plan remittances. NRO balances can be remitted abroad up to USD 1 million per financial year with other eligible assets, subject to conditions; see Forms 15CA and 15CB.
6. File the Indian return for the departure year if you have Indian-source income or tax to reclaim.
7. Sell or hold Indian property with TDS in mind; see TDS on property sale by NRIs.

How do you start Canadian residency step by step?

1. Identify your arrival date. The CRA says you become a resident when you have enough residential ties, which for most newcomers is the day you begin living in Canada.
2. Value your property on that day. The Income Tax Act (section 128.1) treats an individual as having bought most property at fair market value on that date. Taxable Canadian property and business inventory are excluded. Convert rupee values to Canadian dollars using the Bank of Canada rate on the date.
3. Do not report pre-arrival income. The CRA says you do not pay Canadian tax on income you earned outside Canada before becoming a resident, though you report it on a Statement of Income for benefit calculations.
4. File your first return. The CRA says you need not file until the year after you become resident. If you arrived in 2026, the return is due April 30, 2027.
5. Report foreign property over C$100,000 on Form T1135, due the same day, with a simplified method between C$100,000 and C$250,000 and a detailed method at C$250,000 or more. See T1135 for Indian assets.
6. Claim a foreign tax credit on Form T2209 for Indian tax paid on Indian income.
7. Check benefits such as the Canada child benefit and the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit on the CRA's newcomer page.

What documents should you gather?

• Passport, PR confirmation or permit, and arrival date proof
• PAN, bank statements, NRE and NRO account details
• Mutual fund and demat statements with units and values on arrival day
• Property title, valuation and loan statements
• Salary slips, TDS certificates and last Indian return
• Rupee-to-dollar rates for the arrival date

Deadlines and penalties

Canada: the first T1 is due April 30 of the year after arrival. T1135 is due the same date as your return; a failure-to-file penalty is $25 per day for up to 100 days (minimum $100, maximum $2,500), rising to $500 a month in knowing or grossly negligent cases (CRA penalties page). India: your CA gives the filing date for the departure year, and the Income Tax Department applies the 1961 Act to tax years beginning before April 1, 2026. Finance Act 2026 also created a Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers Disclosure Scheme, 2026 for undisclosed foreign assets, effective on a date the Central Government will notify; ask your CA whether it applies to you.

Worked example

Rohan and Neha leave Hyderabad for Calgary on August 20, 2026 on permanent residence. In India they own a flat bought for ₹60 lakh and now worth ₹1.2 crore, mutual funds worth ₹30 lakh and fixed deposits of ₹15 lakh. For Canada, they treat the funds and the flat as acquired at their August 20, 2026 values, converted at the Bank of Canada rate, so a later sale produces a Canadian gain only on growth after arrival. India still computes the gain on the original cost, so the Indian tax can be larger than the Canadian tax, and the Canadian credit covers only the Canadian tax on the gain. Their total Indian property exceeds C$100,000, so they file Form T1135 with the 2026 return due April 30, 2027. The figures are hypothetical.

Mistakes to avoid

• Leaving resident savings accounts open after becoming non-resident.
• Assuming Indian tax ends the day the plane lands.
• Failing to record fair market values on arrival day.
• Forgetting T1135 because the Indian assets are "small" per account.
• Keeping provident fund, PPF or NPS balances without asking your CA how both countries treat them.
• Not telling your US advisers: if you lived in the US on an H-1B or hold a green card, US residency and reporting may continue; see U.S. tax residency tests and the US-Canada treaty guide.

How we can help

We are a U.S. CPA firm in the Aurora, Illinois area. If you are a U.S. citizen, green card holder or H-1B holder moving to Canada, we handle the U.S. side, such as the last U.S. return, FBAR and Form 8938 for Indian and Canadian accounts, and we coordinate with your Canadian CPA and Indian Chartered Accountant. We do not prepare Canadian or Indian returns. See relocation and immigration tax planning, foreign account and asset reporting and the cross-border hub.

Frequently asked questions

General information only. It is not tax, legal, accounting or immigration advice for your situation, and rules change; confirm the current rules with the official source or a licensed professional in the relevant country.