Filing Form NR73 Before You Leave Canada to Study Abroad
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Aug 19, 2026 • Canadian Universities & Colleges, Canadians Studying Abroad
Form NR73 is optional. File it only if your residency status is unclear, since the CRA's answer is a non-binding opinion, not a ruling.
📩 Most students who keep a home and family ties in Canada do not need to file it.
The CRA's opinion faces possible review and change later.
Form NR74 is the matching form for people entering Canada.
Filing takes time to process, so send it well before departure for an answer first.
What Form NR73 does
Form NR73, Determination of Residency Status (Leaving Canada), asks the CRA for its opinion on whether you count as a resident, factual resident, or non-resident for tax purposes once you leave. It is not a legal requirement. Nothing in the Income Tax Act forces you to file it before you go abroad to study.
Who should consider filing it
Most students who study abroad temporarily, keep a home available to them in Canada, and leave a spouse or dependants behind stay factual residents automatically, without needing a CRA opinion first. Filing NR73 makes more sense if your situation is mixed, for example if you gave up your lease, moved most of your belongings abroad, or are unsure whether your ties still count as significant under Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1 .
Consider a graduate student who sells their car, ends their apartment lease, and moves abroad for a four-year doctoral program with no fixed return date. That mix of severed ties makes the outcome less obvious than a typical exchange student's case, and an NR73 opinion gives that student something concrete to point to if the CRA later questions their filing position.
The opinion is not binding
The CRA states plainly that its response to Form NR73 is not binding and may face a more detailed review later. Filing it gives you a documented position to rely on in good faith, but it does not lock in your status the way a court ruling would. If your circumstances change after you file, for example if you extend your program or move your family abroad partway through, your actual status shifts regardless of the earlier opinion.
What the form asks for
Form NR73 collects your personal details, departure date, ties remaining in Canada such as property, spouse, and dependants, your reasons for leaving, and your plans to return. Send the completed form to the address or fax number the CRA lists on the form itself.
Timing your request
Because the process takes time to return an opinion, send Form NR73 well ahead of your departure if you want an answer before you file your first return abroad. Filing late in the year you leave, or after you have already filed a return, still works, but you lose the benefit of certainty before your first tax season away. Contact the CRA's individual tax enquiries line if you have not received a response within a few months of sending your NR73.
What happens if you never file it
Skipping Form NR73 does not change your actual residency status. The CRA still determines your status the same way, using your significant ties, whether or not you ever request an opinion. Most students file their annual return each year based on their own read of the rules, without any CRA opinion on file, and that is standard practice for anyone with clear ties remaining in Canada.
How this fits with your first return abroad
Your first tax season after leaving Canada is the moment your residency status actually matters for filing purposes. A factual resident files a standard resident return reporting worldwide income. A non-resident files a departure return for the year of the move, then a non-resident return for later years covering Canada-source income only. An NR73 opinion, if you requested one, gives you a documented answer to work from when you prepare that first return, though you still apply the rules yourself or with a tax preparer.
Provincial health coverage while you wait for an opinion
Provincial health plans run on their own residency rules, separate from CRA tax residency. Losing provincial health coverage during an extended stay abroad does not automatically mean the CRA sees you as a non-resident for tax purposes, and keeping coverage active does not automatically mean you stay a factual resident either. Treat the two systems as separate questions, each with its own rules to check.
Form NR74 for the return trip
Form NR74, Determination of Residency Status (Entering Canada), mirrors NR73 for the opposite situation, when you move back to Canada after your studies and want the CRA's opinion on when your Canadian residency resumes. The same non-binding caveat applies.
Documents to gather before you file
Your departure date and travel itinerary.
Details of any Canadian home you keep, owned or rented, and whether it stays available to you.
Information on a spouse, common-law partner, or dependants who stay in Canada or travel with you.
Your foreign address and the length of your program abroad.
Any Canadian bank accounts, health coverage, or driver's licence you keep active.
When to skip it
If you keep an unmistakable home, spouse, or dependants in Canada throughout your studies abroad, you likely do not need Form NR73 at all. Filing it in a clear-cut case adds paperwork without changing your outcome. Save the form for situations where your ties are genuinely mixed or your program abroad might turn into something longer term.