Does Canada tax my foreign pension once I move here?
Generally yes. A Canadian resident is taxable on worldwide income, and a pension paid from abroad is income like any other, reported in Canadian dollars. Where the source country also taxes it, relief normally arrives as a credit for the foreign tax against the Canadian tax on the same income rather than as an exemption. That is the general rule, and it is where most answers stop. The qualification matters: particular treaty articles displace the general rule for particular kinds of pension, so the type of plan and the treaty covering it decide the answer before any calculation begins.
What do I report in my first Canadian return after arriving?
The first return is a part-year return. Income from before you became resident is generally outside it; income from the arrival date onwards is in it, including foreign pensions and investment income. Two things beyond income usually belong in the first year's file as well. The value of your foreign holdings as at the arrival date, because that becomes their cost for Canadian purposes. And a list of accounts and plans held abroad with their values, since reporting obligations attach to holdings outside Canada once you are resident here. The arrival date drives all of it, so establish it first.
Do my assets get a new cost base when I become resident?
For most property, yes. Becoming resident is treated as acquiring what you own at its value on that day, so gains that accrued while you lived elsewhere are generally outside the Canadian net. The consequence is evidentiary rather than theoretical: you need the value on the arrival date, recorded then, for every holding you might later sell. A statement dated close to the day, an appraisal for property, a plan statement for an account. Gathered in the first weeks these cost almost nothing; reconstructed years later at the point of sale they are expensive and easier to challenge.
Is my foreign retirement account taxed in Canada as it grows?
It depends on the kind of plan and on what the treaty says about it, which is exactly why plans are reviewed before arrival rather than after. Some foreign arrangements are recognised by treaty in a way that leaves growth untaxed in Canada until it is paid out. Others are not, and their internal income can be taxable to a Canadian resident year by year even though nothing has been withdrawn. The difference cannot be inferred from the plan's name, or from how it was treated where you used to live. Have the plan documents read against the treaty article.
Do I have to report my overseas bank and investment accounts?
Once you are resident here, holdings outside Canada come within a reporting regime separate from the tax on the income they produce. It is a disclosure obligation, so it can bite in a year where the accounts produced very little, and the penalties attach to the failure to report rather than to unpaid tax. The first year is the year to get the list right, because the list then rolls forward. Collect the institution, the account identifier, the country and the value for each holding as at the arrival date, and keep the source documents with the return.
Should I sort out my pension before or after arriving in Canada?
Before, if you have the choice. Reviewing plans and accounts before arrival is materially cheaper than restructuring afterwards, for a plain reason: before the date you can still choose what to hold, consolidate or draw, and after it each of those choices is itself a Canadian tax event. A lump sum taken before residence begins is generally not Canadian income; the same lump sum a month later usually is. Nothing here is urgent in the sense of a deadline, but the options narrow on the arrival date and do not reopen afterwards.
Does hiring one remote employee in another country create a tax presence?
It can, on two separate fronts, and the second applies even when the first does not. A permanent establishment may arise if the employee has a fixed place of business there or concludes contracts for you. Independently of that, employing someone locally generally brings payroll registration, wage withholding and social security contributions in their country from the first payroll — obligations that do not wait for a permanent establishment finding. Contractor paperwork does not by itself avoid either. See remote work and tax exposure.
I work remotely from another country for a company back home — who taxes me?
Usually the country you are physically in, because employment income is generally sourced where the work is done, with your residence country taxing it as well if you are resident there and giving credit. Three things follow: your employer may acquire withholding and social security obligations where you sit, a treaty tie-breaker may be needed if both countries call you resident, and a short trip that becomes a long stay can cross a residence threshold nobody was watching. See remote workers and digital nomads.
