How citizenship physical presence is counted: 1,095 days, a half-day credit capped at 365 days, a rolling five-year window
In the five years before the application is filed, there have to be 1,095 days of actual physical presence in Canada. Days spent in Canada before becoming a permanent resident, as a temporary resident or protected person, count as half a day each, up to 365 days credited; days after that count as one day each. The five years are counted backwards from the day of filing, so the window keeps moving.
What the conditions are
Section 5(1) of the Citizenship Act sets out the conditions for granting citizenship one by one:
| Paragraph | Requirement |
|---|---|
| (a) | has made an application for citizenship |
| (c) | is a permanent resident within the meaning of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and, subject to the regulations, has no unfulfilled conditions under that Act relating to permanent resident status |
| (c)(i) | has been physically present in Canada for at least 1,095 days during the five years immediately before the date of the application |
| (c)(iii) | has met any applicable requirement under the Income Tax Act to file a return of income for three taxation years falling fully or partially within those five years |
| (d) | if 18 years of age or more but less than 55 years of age at the date of the application, has an adequate knowledge of one of the official languages |
| (e) | within the same age range, demonstrates in one of the official languages an adequate knowledge of Canada and of the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship |
| (f) | is not under a removal order and is not the subject of a declaration made under section 20 |
The text of the provision:
5 (1) The Minister shall grant citizenship to any person who
(a) makes application for citizenship;
(c) is a permanent resident within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and
Refugee Protection Act, has, subject to the regulations, no unfulfilled conditions under
that Act relating to his or her status as a permanent resident and has
(i) been physically present in Canada for at least 1,095 days during the five years
immediately before the date of his or her application, and
(iii) met any applicable requirement under the Income Tax Act to file a return of income in
respect of three taxation years that are fully or partially within the five years
immediately before the date of his or her application;
(d) if 18 years of age or more but less than 55 years of age at the date of his or her
application, has an adequate knowledge of one of the official languages of Canada;
(e) if 18 years of age or more but less than 55 years of age at the date of his or her
application, demonstrates in one of the official languages of Canada that he or she has an
adequate knowledge of Canada and of the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship; and
(f) is not under a removal order and is not the subject of a declaration by the Governor in
Council made pursuant to section 20.
A few points are easy to read past. Paragraphs (d) and (e) use the same age range, 18 years of age or more but less than 55 years of age, and the two apply together to the same group of people. What (e) requires is that the knowledge of Canada be demonstrated in one of the official languages, so the language and the knowledge are tied together. The three taxation years counted under (c)(iii) fall fully or partially within those five years, the same stretch of time as the physical presence days.
The reference point that recurs throughout the provision is the date of the application: age is taken as at the date of filing, and the five-year window is counted backwards from that same day.
Three places in the provision, (b), (ii) and (c.1), are marked [Repealed, 2017, c. 14, s. 1]. They are old conditions that have been repealed.
The provision uses shall grant: where the conditions are met, citizenship is to be granted. But that sentence presupposes the conditions are already met, and whether they are met is settled by the assessment of the application. Filing is not itself the conclusion.
The days are counted in two segments
The day of becoming a permanent resident is the dividing line, and the two stretches on either side of it are counted two different ways. The basis is s.5(1.001):
(1.001) For the purpose of subparagraph (1)(c)(i), the length of physical presence is
calculated in the following manner:
(a) for every day during which the person was physically present in Canada as a temporary
resident or protected person under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act before
becoming a permanent resident, the person accumulates half of a day of physical presence,
up to a maximum of 365 days; and
(b) for every day during which the person has been physically present in Canada since becoming a
permanent resident, the person accumulates one day of physical presence.
| Which stretch the day falls in | Status named in the provision | How it counts |
|---|---|---|
| Before becoming a permanent resident | temporary resident or protected person | each day counts as half a day, and the credited portion is capped at 365 days |
| After becoming a permanent resident | permanent resident | each day counts as one day, with no cap |
What the provision credits at half a day is time held as a temporary resident or protected person. A common way of putting it lumps this stretch together as the years of studying and working; what the provision turns on is status, so whether a particular stretch of time counts depends on what status the person held during it.
The half-day portion is capped at 365 days
The part of that provision most easily skipped over is the phrase at the end: up to a maximum of 365 days. The half-day credit has a ceiling.
Before becoming a permanent resident, 730 days of actual physical presence takes the credit to its ceiling, and further days add nothing.
| Days in Canada before becoming a permanent resident | Days credited |
|---|---|
| 400 days | 200 days |
| 730 days | 365 days |
| 1,000 days | 365 days |
| 1,500 days | 365 days |
This layer settles another number directly. At most 365 of the 1,095 days come from the credit, and the remaining 730 days have to come from days after becoming a permanent resident. Where the credit falls short of 365 days, that number goes up. Conversely, where there was no time in Canada before becoming a permanent resident, all 1,095 days have to come from the permanent resident period.
Someone present in Canada as a temporary resident for 900 days before becoming a permanent resident: the portion beyond 730 days no longer counts, and 365 days are credited. After becoming a permanent resident, 700 days present. The two stretches add up to 1,065 days, 30 days short of 1,095. The part of those 900 days that did not make it in is not relaxed because the total came close.
The five years are a rolling window counted backwards
The provision says during the five years immediately before the date of his or her application. The five years are not a fixed period; they are counted backwards from the day of filing. Change the filing date and both ends of the window move with it.
Five years is about 1,826 days, and 1,095 days of presence are required. Those 1,095 days are counted across the whole five years taken together, not as an annual quota.
File on 10 January and what is counted is the stretch running back from that day to 10 January five years earlier; file on 10 April instead and the window shifts three months as a whole, the earliest three months drop out and the most recent three months come in.
As the window moves forward, the earliest days fall out of it. The 1,095 days counted today and the ones counted three months from now are not the same set of days. Whether a given day works can only be settled by counting back five years from that day again.
The credited portion sits inside the same window. Section 5(1.001) opens by stating that it is the method of calculation for the purpose of subparagraph (1)(c)(i), and (1)(c)(i) counts days during those five years. Read together, the temporary resident days available for the half-day credit also have to fall within this five-year window.
One very narrow exception: abroad with a spouse in public service
Days outside Canada do not count as a general matter. Section 5(1.01) is an exception, and its reach is narrow:
(1.01) Any day during which an applicant for citizenship resided with the applicant's spouse
or common-law partner who at the time was a Canadian citizen and was employed outside Canada in or
with the Canadian Armed Forces, the federal public administration or the public service of a
province, otherwise than as a locally engaged person, shall be treated as equivalent to one day
of physical presence in Canada …
Four conditions have to hold at the same time:
1. the person the applicant resided with is the applicant's spouse or common-law partner; 2. that person was already a Canadian citizen at the time; 3. that person was employed outside Canada in or with the Canadian Armed Forces, the federal public administration or the public service of a province; 4. and was not employed as a locally engaged person.
With all four in place, those days outside Canada are treated as equivalent to one day of physical presence in Canada, still counted against the same 1,095 days rather than under a separate standard. A common way of putting it is that days abroad with a spouse count; this provision is much narrower than that, and it does not apply if any one of the four is missing. The sentence quoted above carries further qualifications after the part quoted, and the official page governs for the full text.
The hard part is not the numbers, it is lining up the timeline
The numbers on this page have no give in them: 1,095, 365, 730, five years. They are not hard to remember. The hard part is where each stretch of status over the past five years, and each entry into and exit from Canada, falls relative to the window. The three taxation years for filing returns have to be read alongside them.
Being 30 days short and being 300 days short come to the same conclusion: the requirement is not met.
The five years of status and entry-and-exit records go onto a single timeline first, and are read from there. Consultation rates are here.
Common questions
Do the years of studying and working all count at half a day each?
The half-day credit is given only for days in Canada before becoming a permanent resident, held as a temporary resident or protected person, and the credited portion is capped at 365 days. 730 days of actual presence before that point takes the credit to its ceiling, and further days add nothing. In the provision, half of a day is followed immediately by up to a maximum of 365 days, and that second half of the phrase is often missed.
How much presence is needed after becoming a permanent resident?
At most 365 of the 1,095 days come from the credit, and the remaining 730 days can only come from days after becoming a permanent resident. So where the credit is at its full 365 days, 730 days of actual physical presence after becoming a permanent resident are still required; where the credit falls short of 365 days, that number is larger.
Which day do the five years start from?
Five years counted backwards from the day the application is filed. The provision says during the five years immediately before the date of his or her application, which is a window that moves with the filing date. As the window moves forward the earliest days drop outside it, so whether a given day works has to be counted back again from that day.
Do days spent abroad with a spouse count?
Section 5(1.01) does provide for this, but four conditions have to hold at the same time: the person resided with is a spouse or common-law partner; that person was already a Canadian citizen at the time; that person was employed outside Canada in or with the Canadian Armed Forces, the federal public administration or the public service of a province; and was not employed as a locally engaged person. If any one is missing the provision does not apply.
Why do the citizenship requirements found online not match the provision?
In the text of s.5 of the Citizenship Act, three places, (b), (ii) and (c.1), are marked [Repealed, 2017, c. 14, s. 1]. They are old conditions that have been repealed. Material written to the pre-repeal version is still in circulation. Where a condition is stated in very specific terms, check what year it is from first, then read the provision as it currently stands.
Official sources cited
Verified 2026-08-09. The current text on the official page governs.
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