Canadian Citizenship and Extended Travel
A Canadian traveler in Trafalgar Square, London, U.K. Let's face it, she's probably not wondering how long she can stay outside Canada without losing her Citizenship or Permanent Residence status and Health Insurance coverage. Photo by BlueAndWhiteArmy.
This one's for Canadian travellers.
Question. If you live outside of Canada for an extended period of time do you lose your canadian citizenship?
Answer. No. The Citizenship and Immigration Canada website's Citizenship FAQ tells me so. The one exception is if you were born outside of Canada sometime after February 14, 1977.
If you are a Permanent Resident, however, you can lose that status if you live outside of Canada for too long. Specifically, you need to live in Canada for two out of five years. Here's information about keeping your permanent resident status.
Before leaving, it's nice to know if you'll be able to come home!
Health Insurance BC
Keeping your Medical Services Plan / Health Insurance BC coverage has it's own set of rules. If you're traveling for less than six months out of the year, you don't have anything to worry about. You don't even need to contact them to let them know of your plans.
However, those who will be away for longer than six months could lose their coverage. From the looks of things, that just means that you won't be covered for the period after the first six months and when you return, you'll have to endure a waiting period before getting renewed.
If you're planning to be away for less than twenty-four months, contact MSP to find out if you're eligible for extended coverage.
Find out some of the details of MSP and long-term travel plans at the Health Canada website. Note that this information seems to be specific to British Columbia and other provinces may have their own regulations.
Happy traveling!
Be sure to check the Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Health Canada websites for up-to-date information.