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Canada: visas, tax & cost of living

Canada has no dedicated nomad visa: most remote workers use visitor/eTA status for up to 6 months. Tax residency hinges on ties or 183 days. Costs run high.

Canada: visas, tax & cost of living
Your passport

United KingdomCanada

Your move to Canada on a United Kingdom passport

  • VisitFairly easyVisa on arrival, e-visa or travel authorization (ETA)
  • NomadMediumNo nomad visa, other route
  • RelocateMediumResidence with conditions

Visiting

You need a travel authorization (an ETA) before you board. Apply online, pay the small fee, and keep the approval with your passport.

Passport validity: No fixed validity buffer is required, but your stay ends when your passport expires: without an entry stamp you may stay 6 months from entry or until your passport or biometrics expire, whichever comes first.

Heads-up: No nomad visa or new visitor rules are announced. Most visitors get up to 6 months; the border officer may allow less or more and then writes the leave-by date in your passport. Visa-exempt visitors flying in need an eTA, which costs CAD 7.

At the border: Officers may ask for proof of onward or return travel, proof of sufficient funds, and your travel plans or purpose of trip.

Working remotely

No dedicated nomad visa; the usual route is a standard residence permit.

Tax and residency

Factual residence turns on your residential ties, chiefly a home, a spouse or common-law partner, or dependants in Canada, with no day count. Separately, if you sojourn in Canada for 183 days or more in total in a calendar year you are deemed resident for the whole year and taxed on worldwide income (Income Tax Act s 250(1)(a)). (estimate)

The UK decides residence with its Statutory Residence Test (days in the UK plus your ties). As a non-resident you are usually taxed only on UK income; where one exists, a double-tax treaty with the destination decides who taxes what.

Double-tax treaty: yes, in force since 1978

Practical

Currency: CAD. Cost of living: high.

Healthcare: There is no reciprocal healthcare for visitors and provincial plans do not cover short-term visitors, so comprehensive travel medical insurance is essential.

Driving: You can usually drive on a foreign licence as a visitor for a limited period, but rules vary by province and an International Driving Permit is recommended for longer stays.

Working-holiday visa: yes, ages 18-35

Sources: Canada, IRCC, Attracting tech talent (digital nomads: visitor status up to 6 months, no work permit) · Canada, IRCC Help Centre, How long can I stay in Canada as a visitor? · Canada, IRCC, Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) · Canada, CRA, Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, Determining an individual's residence status · Canada, Income Tax Act s 250 (Justice Laws) · Canada, IRCC, International Experience Canada eligibility by country · GOV.UK: tax on foreign income · HMRC: double-taxation treaties

Estimates, not advice. Confirm with the official sources before you act.

Should you move to Canada?

Canada is for remote workers who want big, safe, English (and French) speaking cities with serious infrastructure and wilderness a short drive away, and who can stomach the bill. Toronto and Vancouver bring the jobs and the buzz. Montreal gives you much the same quality of life for noticeably less. So be honest about the budget. A single nomad realistically needs around C$2,100 to C$3,100 a month in Montreal, and closer to C$3,800 to C$4,200 in Toronto or Vancouver. This is a high cost destination, full stop.

Canada visa and entry

There is no dedicated digital nomad or remote work visa here, despite the headlines. What most nomads actually do is enter as visitors (visa exempt travelers use an eTA, everyone else needs a visitor visa) and keep working remotely for a foreign employer, usually for up to six months at a stretch. IRCC’s own wording is that digital nomads working remotely for an employer outside Canada need no work permit, only visitor status, for up to six months at a time. If you are visa-exempt and flying in, the eTA costs CAD 7. Border officers may ask about the purpose of your trip, your funds and your onward or return travel, so keep your contract with your foreign employer and your bank statements within reach. Want to stay long term, or take on Canadian clients? Then you are into proper work permit or Express Entry skilled worker territory instead. This is educational, not immigration advice.

Tax residency and what to check

Canada taxes on residency, and residency is mostly about ties, not a tidy day count. The big ones are a home, a spouse or partner, and dependents in Canada. Separately, if you have no significant ties but stay in Canada for 183 days or more in total in a calendar year, you are deemed resident for the whole year and taxed on your worldwide income (Income Tax Act, section 250). The visitor route caps you near six months anyway, so most short stay nomads stay under that line. Treat all of this as an estimate, and confirm your own situation before you bank on it.

Figures are estimates. Always check the official source linked below.

At a glance

Currency
CAD
Cost of living
High
Digital-nomad visa
No

Frequently asked questions

Canada: is there a digital nomad visa?
No dedicated digital nomad visa; most people use a standard residence permit instead.
Canada: when do you become a tax resident?
Factual residence turns on your residential ties, chiefly a home, a spouse or common-law partner, or dependants in Canada, with no day count. Separately, if you sojourn in Canada for 183 days or more in total in a calendar year you are deemed resident for the whole year and taxed on worldwide income (Income Tax Act s 250(1)(a)).
Canada: what is the cost of living?
The cost of living is high and the local currency is the CAD. Treat any figures as estimates.
Canada: do you need health insurance?
There is no reciprocal healthcare for visitors and provincial plans do not cover short-term visitors, so comprehensive travel medical insurance is essential.
Canada: can you drive on a foreign licence?
You can usually drive on a foreign licence as a visitor for a limited period, but rules vary by province and an International Driving Permit is recommended for longer stays.

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Put it to work

Last verified: 2026-06-24

Sources: Canada, IRCC

Voymo gives general information to help you organise your move. It is not legal, tax, or immigration advice, always confirm with an official source or a qualified professional before you act.

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