Hello,
you will find that it's Time dependant. I too am a Canadian Citizen, born in BC, however when i returned for a 1 month visit, i was told to change my embarkation card from Resident to Visitor, which of course - changed my customs allowance. This was because i was actually "visiting" canada, would not be working in Canada, and had return tickets to
Bangladesh. What's ironic is that i DID have an apartment and had been paying rent the entire time i was away - i was out of the country for 21 months.
You need to be a non-resident for 2 years before you are tax free, and then you will be tax free from the time you left the country. But double check! i've found it extremely difficult to get any help with my
taxes while living abroad, and getting confirmed, accurate information about my current tax situation from Revenue Canada is harder than getting grape juice from a mango. In fact, i spoke with the High commissioner in
Bangladesh and she too finds it difficult to get her
taxes sorted out. Honestly, i have no idea what to do about the whole situation, i have contacted Revenue Canada by phone, and spoken to them, and they don't even know what to do, and to speak to a tax accountant, which hasn't been much help either. H&R block are totally hopeless, so if you find a decent tax accountant to help you, please let me know!
From everything we've been told, permanent residence means exactly that - permanent. You do not need to be in the country to keep your status. My wife is applying for permanent residence, but the problem is, we need to prove that we intend to reside in Canada, since we don't - it's difficult to prove. Thus our plan is to live in Canada after getting her PR status for 2 years (hopefully then she can apply for citizenship. both our countries recognize dual citizenship) then return to
Bangladesh, it will actually make travel elsewhere easier for my wife to have a Canadian passport, as sadly, a
Bangladesh passport isn't well received anywhere.
She will probably need to have a "Canadian Residence Card" to get back into Canada, so if you don't have that, you might want to go talk to the Canadian embassy in
China and get that sorted out, i know people who have lived in Canada most of their lives, are married in Canada, have Canadian children, and have been told NOT to leave the country without that card.
most of what i know is from personal experience, and not official. Double check everything to be on the safe side. And i would love to know what you learn, as it'll help me too.