Hi Sara,

Thank you for your message, and I hope you’re doing well.

Based on the details you’ve provided — that you left Canada on August 30, 2024, completed your work remotely until December 31, 2024, and still maintain a Canadian savings account, health card, and driver’s license — here is how I would advise proceeding:

✅ 1. Determining Your Departure Date

For Canadian tax purposes, your residency status is determined by the strength of your residential ties. Since you intended to return but did not, and your physical departure was August 30, 2024, this date generally becomes your date of departure, unless you maintained significant ties beyond that.

However, the fact that:

• you continued to work remotely for a Canadian employer, and
• retained major Canadian ties (health card, driver’s license, bank account),
  means the CRA may consider you a factual resident until December 31, 2024. That date may be a better candidate as your official departure date, assuming you sever most ties by then.

We can assist you in preparing a departure return for 2024, and properly documenting your status change.

✅ 2. Stopping CRA Benefits (e.g., GST/HST, CCB)

To notify the CRA and stop benefits:

• Call the CRA at 1-800-387-1193 (Benefits line) or write them using Form RC325 ("Address change notification" with explanation in Section 5).
• Clearly indicate that you ceased to be a resident as of your departure date and request that your GST/HST credits and any other benefits be discontinued.
• Alternatively, you can send a secure message through your CRA My Account online portal.

We recommend submitting a written statement or calling directly to ensure the update is properly recorded.

✅ 3. 2025 Tax Filing

Since you are no longer a Canadian tax resident as of your departure date, your 2025 Canadian tax obligations are limited to:

• Canadian-source income, such as interest (which is typically exempt from withholding tax under many tax treaties),
• If no other Canadian-source income exists, you likely won’t have to file a 2025 return, unless requested by CRA.

However, we recommend filing a NR73 (Determination of Residency Status) if there is any uncertainty, or we can prepare a letter with your 2024 return explaining your departure and requesting non-resident classification going forward.

💼 Our Services

We can assist you with:

• Preparing your 2024 Departure Return (from $270 + HST)
• Advising on benefit discontinuation and RRSP/FHSA/TFSA treatment

To get started, I recommend we schedule a 15-minute call at your convenience:
👉 https://madanca.com/contact-us