To be eligible for Canadian citizenship by grant (naturalization), an adult applicant must meet a physical presence requirement of at least 1,095 days (3 years) in Canada in the 5 years immediately before the date they sign and submit the citizenship application. The 5-year window rolls backwards from the application date. Days spent in Canada as a permanent resident count as full days; days spent in Canada as a temporary resident (visitor, student, worker, or protected person) before becoming a permanent resident count as 0.5 days each, with a maximum of 365 days that can be contributed from temporary resident or protected person days. Days spent under imprisonment, probation, or parole do not count. IRCC provides an online physical presence calculator to assist applicants in determining whether they meet the requirement. This page explains the calculation method, the temporary resident credit, the exclusions, and the role of the IRCC calculator.

For the IRCC physical presence calculator and current guidance on what qualifies as physical presence in Canada, refer to the IRCC physical presence page.

• Citizenship Act, s 5(1)(c) — the physical presence requirement for adult citizenship applicants: the applicant must have been physically present in Canada for at least 1,095 days in the 5 years preceding the date of application; this provision was amended by the Bill C-6 Amendments to the Citizenship Act 2017 which changed the previous 4-year window and residence-based calculation to the current 5-year/1,095-day physical presence framework
• Citizenship Act, s 5(1.1) — the half-day credit for days spent as a temporary resident or protected person in Canada before becoming a permanent resident; each such day counts as 0.5 days; the maximum contribution from pre-PR days is capped at 365 days (requiring 730 days as a temporary resident or protected person to reach the cap)
• Citizenship Act, s 5(1.2) — the exclusion of days spent under probation, parole, or a term of imprisonment from the physical presence calculation; these days do not count regardless of whether the applicant was physically in Canada
• IRCC: Physical presence calculator — canada.ca/citizenship-physical-presence

The 1,095-day requirement — how it is calculated

The physical presence requirement for Canadian citizenship is:

• 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada
• Counted within the 5-year window immediately before the date the applicant signs the citizenship application
• The 5-year window runs backwards from the application signature date — days outside this window do not count
• Days inside Canada count; days outside Canada do not count, regardless of the reason for the absence

How different immigration statuses are counted

The calculation depends on the applicant's immigration status in Canada on each day they were present:

• Permanent resident days: each day the applicant was in Canada as a permanent resident counts as 1 full day; there is no cap on the number of permanent resident days that can be counted within the 5-year window
• Temporary resident days (pre-PR): each day the applicant was in Canada as a temporary resident — a visitor, student, worker, or protected person — before becoming a permanent resident counts as 0.5 days; the maximum contribution from temporary resident and protected person days combined is 365 days — meaning an applicant who was a temporary resident for 730 days in the 5-year window receives a maximum credit of 365 days from those days
• Days outside Canada: do not count, regardless of immigration status or reason for absence
• Days under imprisonment, probation, or parole: do not count, even if the applicant was physically in Canada on those days (see below)

Days that do not count — exclusions

The following days are excluded from the physical presence calculation even if the applicant was physically in Canada:

• Days serving a term of imprisonment (in a federal or provincial correctional institution)
• Days on parole (conditional release from a sentence of imprisonment)
• Days on probation (a sentence imposed as an alternative to imprisonment)
• Days subject to a conditional or absolute discharge or a suspension of sentence

These exclusions apply under the Citizenship Act even if the applicant was residing and working in Canada during the excluded period.

The IRCC physical presence calculator

IRCC provides an online tool — the physical presence calculator — to help applicants calculate whether they meet the 1,095-day requirement:

• Applicants enter their entry and exit dates for all trips outside Canada within the 5-year window
• The calculator determines the number of days in Canada as a temporary resident and as a permanent resident, applies the 0.5-day credit to pre-PR days, and calculates the total days toward the 1,095-day requirement
• The calculator is available on the IRCC website — refer to the IRCC physical presence page for the calculator link and instructions
• Applicants must accurately report all absences from Canada in the citizenship application — IRCC has access to entry and exit records from CBSA and partner border agencies; inaccurate reporting of absences is a misrepresentation

Illustrative examples — how the calculation works

The following illustrate how the calculation operates in different circumstances:

• Applicant who became PR 3 years ago and was never a temporary resident: 3 years (approx 1,095 days) as a permanent resident, with no absences — the applicant meets the requirement at 3 years as a PR; any absences as a PR would reduce the count below 1,095 days
• Applicant who studied in Canada for 2 years before becoming a PR: 2 years as a student = approximately 730 pre-PR days × 0.5 = 365 days credit; plus days as a PR — if the PR period in the 5-year window also totals 730 days (approximately 2 years), total = 730 + 365 = 1,095 days — the requirement is met
• Applicant who spent time outside Canada as a PR: 5 years as a PR but with 500 days outside Canada — 5 years = approximately 1,825 days total; minus 500 days outside = 1,325 days in Canada as PR — the requirement of 1,095 days is met

These are simplified illustrations only — the actual calculation depends on precise entry and exit dates, and the IRCC calculator should be used to verify the count.

Physical presence vs the old "residence" test

The current physical presence requirement replaced a residence-based test under the pre-2017 Citizenship Act. Under the old rules, applicants could rely on "deemed presence" in Canada while employed abroad under certain circumstances. The current law requires actual physical presence in Canada — being outside Canada for any reason (employment, family, health, travel) does not count as time in Canada. This change was introduced by Bill C-6 (2017) and made the physical presence requirement stricter and more objectively verifiable.

The physical presence requirement is one of the most operationally significant eligibility criteria for Canadian citizenship — applicants who have spent extended periods outside Canada (for employment, family reasons, or extended travel) frequently find that their physical presence falls short of 1,095 days despite holding permanent resident status for more than 3 years. The 0.5-day credit for pre-PR temporary resident days is a meaningful benefit for applicants who studied or worked in Canada before becoming permanent residents — up to 365 days of credit is available, reducing the amount of time as a PR needed to meet the requirement. The exclusion of imprisonment/parole/probation days is a separate issue from criminal inadmissibility (which is assessed under the prohibitions in the Citizenship Act, s 22) — an applicant may have completed a sentence but still find that the excluded days affect the physical presence count. IRCC's physical presence calculator is the primary tool for assessing whether the requirement is met before applying — applicants should run the calculator and retain a printed copy with their application. For current guidance, the online calculator, and instructions for counting days inside and outside Canada, refer to the IRCC physical presence page.