residency

[yyzsfo]

I am a CDN citizen living in the US with Permanent Resident status. I want to reestablish CDN residency & benefits by living part-time in Canada (my family lives in Ontario) and part-time in the US.

How do I do this?

How long do I have to live in Canada each year to qualify as a resident with full rights to benefits (eg, Social Insurance, health coverage, old age pension)? How is the period of residency monitored by the government?

My father is 88; I have the most flexibility to take care of him in Canada, but I also have children, a partner, etc., in the US that I want/need to spend time with. I am a writer/editor & can live/work anywhere.

[agnelson]

For health coverage you need to live in canada and be physically in province 5 months of the year for OHIP.

OAS and CPP are still yours if you live in US. based on the work you've done in the past in canada (for CPP) and time spent in canada (for OAS), so I wouldn't be worrying about that,

So, the tricky part is keeping sufficient ties in US to keep your GC valid. Unfortunately, the more often you cross back and forth, the more likley you will b easked "where do you live". If the US border officer decides that you really live in canada (you seem to want to -- and if you have ontario DL, plates, OHIP card) then they have the right to confiscate your GC and proceed to have it officially cancelled. You could, before leaving US, apply for a "re-entry Permit" which
could prevent border from acting against you for a period of two years. This would probabaly be the best short-term course of action -- but is no guarantee that you would keep GC.
Your best course, if you've had GC for a while is to get US citizenship. Then you can travel freely and live where you watnt without fear of losing GC.

[Reba]

if you're eligible, apply for US citizenship. If you're not eligible yet for citizenship, you risk losing your PR status, as agnelson said. The re-entry permit would help, but I think then any time you spend outside of the US you cannot count toward your eligibility for citizenship.

[agnelson]

Yeah, some periods that you are outside can count towards the required presence, but the last few months before citizenship usually need to be spent *almost* entirely within US.

see:
http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/M-476.pdf