Arriving on expiry date of PR

sammy wrote: I left Canada about a month back and now returning back on the day of expiry of my PR card. Do you see any problem? Or do you advice to arrive a day before expiry date marked on PR?

Generally it will make little to no difference whether you arrive at a Canadian POE a week before the card expires, the day the card expires, or a week after the card expires.

Where it makes a difference is in boarding an airline flight headed for Canada (for a PR who is not otherwise carrying a passport from a visa-exempt country).

For this, probably best to check with the airline involved. The airline will be the entity deciding whether to recognize the card as sufficient proof of authorization to enter Canada, that is, sufficient in terms of allowing the passenger to board a flight destined for Canada.

Be aware that flight delays are very common, for all sorts of reasons, so if the actual day of travel makes a difference, traveling at the last moment is risky in itself.



At the POE; dealing with CBSA officers upon entry to Canada
At the POE itself, that is upon arrival at Canada, a recently expired PR card probably raises some questions but no more so than the presentation of a PR card which is soon-to-expire. Remember, it is not as if the date of expiration has anything at all to do with the PR's status as such.

Thus, if you have been living in Canada for years, no doubt about where you live or whether you have been in compliance with the PR residency obligation, the fact that the PR card expired a week before you return from a month-long trip abroad is NO big deal at the POE, not at all likely to be an issue.

If, in contrast, there is something about your history or circumstances that potentially raises a question regarding your compliance with the PR residency obligation (or, for that matter, any admissibility issue), returning to Canada a day or week before the card's expiration date is not likely to be any easier (again, at the POE itself) than returning to Canada a week after the PR card expired. That is, if CBSA has questions about you, the questions are as likely to be asked in much the same way regardless of whether your PR card is still valid for another day or another week, or has recently expired.

Note: You may be asked about why you did not renew the card sooner or such, but any returning PR, of course, may be asked a wide range of questions at the POE, and again, questions of this sort in particular are probably nearly as likely for a PR with a card which will expire soon as it is for a PR with a card that just expired.