What do I need to close before I leave Canada?
Closing things in the right order means your final pay, deposit and any tax refund arrive, nothing is left owing, and the CRA and your bank can still reach you once you’ve gone.
In 30 seconds
- Keep one Canadian bank account open for your final pay, deposit, any tax refund and later pension or RRSP payments
- Tell the CRA your departure date: as a non-resident you’re generally no longer eligible for the Canada child benefit or the GST/HST credit, and payments made by mistake must be paid back
- Your provincial health plan is for residents of the province, so tell it you’re leaving and arrange travel or UK cover for the gap
The order that works
- Cancel standing payments you won’t need: gym, subscriptions, streaming, memberships
- Give notice on hydro, gas and internet for your moving-out day, and ask for a final meter read
- Your phone: keep it until the end, as banks and the CRA’s online services send codes by text
- Car and home or tenant insurance: cancel from the day you sell the car or hand back the keys, and ask about a refund for the unused part
- Credit cards: pay off and close, unless you need one for the move
- Tell the CRA and your health plan your departure date
- Your bank account: keep one open until everything has arrived
Your bank account
Keep at least one chequing account open, with online banking that works from overseas. You may still be waiting for your final pay, your rental deposit or a tax refund, and later you may draw on an RRSP or receive CPP. Tell the bank you’re becoming a non-resident: it needs to know so it can apply non-resident tax to interest and withdrawals. Download statements before you go. They help with UK tax, a mortgage application or proving your address history.
Bills and contracts
- Utilities and internet: give notice for your last day and check your contract for any early cancellation fee. Pay the final bill before you close the account
- Phone: check what’s left to pay on any device financing. Many Canadian plans spread the cost of the handset, and the balance usually becomes due when you cancel
- Credit cards: pay off and close cards you won’t use, and keep the letters confirming a zero balance. Your Canadian credit history doesn’t move to the UK with you
- Car: sell it or cancel the plates through your province, and cancel the insurance from the same day
Benefits and the CRA
| What | What to do |
|---|---|
| Canada child benefit | Tell the CRA your departure date. Generally, non-residents aren’t eligible, and payments for months after you’ve left have to be paid back |
| GST/HST credit | Stops for non-residents in the same way. Don’t cash a payment that arrives after you’ve left; contact the CRA |
| Provincial top-ups | Some provincial family payments are paid with the CCB and stop with it |
| Your tax account | Update your address in My Account. The CRA can keep refunds or credits to cover anything you owe |
| Factual residents | If you keep strong ties to Canada and are only away for a time, you may stay a resident for tax and keep these benefits. Check before you assume either way |
Health cover
Provincial health plans, such as OHIP in Ontario, MSP in British Columbia (BC), AHCIP in Alberta and RAMQ in Quebec, cover people who live in the province. Tell your plan the date you’re leaving and hand back the card if it asks you to. Your provincial card won’t pay for care in the UK, so buy travel insurance for the journey and any time before you’re living in the UK again. The NHS covers you once you return to live: see How do we settle back into the UK? Workplace extended health and dental cover usually ends with your job.
Savings and pensions
- A TFSA can stay open, and withdrawals stay free of Canadian tax. Don’t pay anything in after you leave: non-resident contributions are taxed at 1% a month
- An RRSP can stay invested. Non-residents usually have 25% withheld from withdrawals
- If you already get Old Age Security, it may stop after 6 months abroad unless you lived in Canada for at least 20 years after age 18. Call Service Canada before you go to avoid an overpayment
- Update your address with any workplace pension plan so you get statements and can claim later
For the full order of leaving, including your job, home and departure tax, see How do I leave Canada, and in what order?
What to do next
- Choose which Canadian bank account you’ll keep open
- Tell the CRA your departure date and new address
- List every contract with its notice period and cancellation fee
Keep going
- CRA: Leaving Canada (emigrants)
- CRA: Child and family benefits, keep your information up to date
- CRA: Factual residents, temporarily outside Canada
- CRA: How non-residency affects your TFSA
- CRA: If you owe tax on non-resident TFSA contributions
- CRA: RRSP tax rates on withdrawals
- Service Canada: Old Age Security, receiving your pension
- Service Canada: Lived or living outside Canada, eligibility