Enough freeloading, the CRA has said to the Canadian population at large; they will find you and they will take away your benefits regardless of who you are. The tracking system – be it a land border or by air – is in the works to catch Canadians whose insufficient presence in the country disqualifies them from certain benefits. Once the tracking system is in place, it should allow Canada to save between $194 million and $319 million over five years.
The CRA is instating a planned border tracking system which will alert them of Canadians who are residing outside of Canada and are therefore ineligible for social benefits. The benefits at issue include Old Age Security, Unemployment Insurance, Child Tax benefits and others.
In order to be cleared by the CRA to receive your child tax benefits, you must be present in the country for at least 183 in a calendar year. To be eligible for Old Age Security benefits, you need to be a resident of Canada for as little as 10 years and as long as 20 years depending on the country of residency at the time the benefits are collected.
The tracking system has already been instituted for foreign nationals and permanent residents of Canada and the U.S. but this next phase will be sharing information about both country’s citizens. Canada is also expanding its sources of gathering information to include travellers leaving by air and ground.
