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Newcomers & cross-border individuals
Tax for newcomers to Canada, and for people with ties in the US or UK.
Your first Canadian return, done right — and filings that account for income, property and family on both sides of a border.
Your first Canadian return
The first year sets up everything after it.
Canada taxes you on worldwide income from the day you become a resident, and it treats the first return as the starting point for benefits, contribution room and foreign reporting. Getting that first year right is worth more than any later refund.
- Your residency date. Income earned before you arrived isn't taxed here; income after it is, wherever it was earned. The date has to be right on the return.
- Benefits that don't apply themselves. The GST/HST credit, the Canada Child Benefit and the Ontario Trillium Benefit depend on the return and, in your first year, on separate applications.
- Contribution room. TFSA room starts the year you become a resident, if you're 18 or older. RRSP room comes only from Canadian earned income on a prior return, so there's none in year one.
- Foreign assets. Property outside Canada worth more than $100,000 has to be reported on the T1135 — not in the year you arrive, but every year after.
- Foreign pensions and savings. A UK pension, a US 401(k) or IRA, and savings accounts abroad are all taxable or reportable here in ways that surprise people. A UK ISA isn't tax-free in Canada.
- Credentials and moving. Some licensing, exam and moving costs are deductible or creditable; most people miss them.
Cross-border
Two countries, one set of facts.
- US citizens and green card holders in Canada still file a US return every year, plus FBAR and FATCA reports when account balances pass the thresholds. The Canada–US treaty and foreign tax credits prevent most double taxation — but only when both returns are prepared to match.
- Canadians with US income — a rental property, remote work for a US employer, or investments — have US filing and withholding questions that decide how much tax is actually owed.
- Ties to the UK — a rental property, a pension, a business, or a split year of arrival — carry treaty rules that decide which country taxes what.
- Leaving Canada triggers a departure return and the deemed-disposition rules on the property you keep.
How we work
Most of this is done remotely — call or email, and a secure link for documents. We work with clients across Ontario and with people who haven't landed yet.
Bring the whole picture
Foreign slips, statements and last year's return from the other country. What looks irrelevant often decides a credit.
What we do
Returns that match on both sides of the border.
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First-year and newcomer returns
Residency date, worldwide income from arrival, benefit applications, and the deductions newcomer professionals tend to miss.
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Cross-border filings — Canada, US and UK
Filings that account for income and assets in more than one country, with treaty positions and foreign tax credits applied consistently.
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Foreign asset and account reporting
T1135 reporting in Canada, and FBAR and FATCA thresholds watched for US persons.
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Foreign pensions and investments
UK pensions, US retirement accounts and overseas savings reported correctly, so they aren't taxed twice — or missed.
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Arriving and leaving
Split-year returns on arrival, departure returns and deemed dispositions on leaving, and the elections that go with them.
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Self-employed and incorporated newcomers
Registering for HST, setting up a corporation, and the first year's books for professionals starting a practice or a business here.
Common questions
What newcomers ask us first.
I arrived part-way through the year. Do I file for the whole year?
You file a return for the year, but Canada taxes only the income from your residency date onward. Income from before you arrived is reported for the credit calculations, not taxed.
I'm a US citizen living in Canada. What do I have to file?
A Canadian return every year, and a US return every year, plus FBAR and FATCA reports if your account balances pass the thresholds. The treaty and foreign tax credits mean most people owe little or nothing to the US, but the filings still have to be made. Call or email and we'll walk through your situation.
Do I report my UK pension or ISA?
Yes. A UK pension is taxable in Canada as you receive it, with treaty rules that decide how the UK side is handled. An ISA has no special status in Canada — its income and gains are taxable here each year.
Do I have to report my property back home?
If the total cost of your property outside Canada — real estate, investments, bank accounts — is more than $100,000, you file a T1135 every year after your first year of residency. A home you live in doesn't count; a rental property does.
Can we do this remotely?
Yes. Most of our newcomer and cross-border work is done by phone and email, with a secure link for documents.
General information on Canadian residency and cross-border filing, not advice for your situation. Treaty positions turn on facts that differ from one person to the next.
New to Canada, or filing in two countries?
Call 647-870-8498 or email info@ghayurtax.com.