Province status when in residency?

[CanuckMoose]

I'm an Ontario resident moving for 2 years to Quebec for residency. My understanding is that since I will be a "trainee" at a University I can keep my status as a resident of Ontario and won't need to convert my Driver's license, car license plate, etc., etc. To Quebec.  Is this correct?

[Bambi]

I do not believe that is correct. Living in Quebec, you must have a Quebec driver's license after 6 months. And should you end up in the hospital in Montreal, go explain you are living in Montreal but really your OHIP is valid. KISS is best approach, Keep It Simple Stupid. And speak to your insurer for your car and see what they say.  In Quebec, it is no fault, but with Ontario registration and you have an accident, you are making life unnecessarily complicated for yourself.

EDIT: You will be earning money in Quebec, will b e employed in Quebec and filing a provincial tax return in Quebec.

[CanuckMoose]

5 minutes ago, Bambi said:

I do not believe that is correct. Living in Quebec, you must have a Quebec driver's license after 6 months. And should you end up in the hospital in Montreal, go explain you are living in Montreal but really your OHIP is valid. KISS is best approach, Keep It Simple Stupid. And speak to your insurer for your car and see what they say.  In Quebec, it is no fault, but with Ontario registration and you have an accident, you are making life unnecessarily complicated for yourself.

EDIT: You will be earning money in Quebec, will b e employed in Quebec and filing a provincial tax return in Quebec.

Thanks for the reply. I thought the same thing but then I went here https://saaq.gouv.qc.ca/en/drivers-licences/foreign-drivers-licence/ and clicked "Foreign student or trainee (including individuals from another Canadian province or territory)

 

and it said:   

"If you are a student or trainee from another Canadian province or abroad, you are allowed to drive for the duration of your studies or traineeship with your foreign driver's licence, provided the licence:

• is valid
• authorizes you to drive the type of vehicle that you are using

You are not required to obtain a Québec licence as long as you do not take up residence in Québec."

 

And as a resident physician paying dues to the University and assigned a student number am I not a "trainee?"

[Bambi]

From my viewpoint, you are working in Quebec, an employee. I would speak directly with Quebec authorities, i.e., with La Regie for health cover, with the dept that deal with driver's license. I know if the police stop you and you have been in Quebec for longer than 6 months, they would take the position that you need a Quebec driver's license and speak with your insurance broker, explaining what you are doing in Quebec to determine if your cover remains in force although you will be driving mostly in Quebec. 

[MDLaval]

Why take any chances? Keep it simple. After all, it's Quebec and, as you might have heard, we're a distinct society 

[frenchpress]

On 2018-03-09 at 3:04 PM, CanuckMoose said:

Thanks for the reply. I thought the same thing but then I went here https://saaq.gouv.qc.ca/en/drivers-licences/foreign-drivers-licence/ and clicked "Foreign student or trainee (including individuals from another Canadian province or territory)

 

and it said:   

"If you are a student or trainee from another Canadian province or abroad, you are allowed to drive for the duration of your studies or traineeship with your foreign driver's licence, provided the licence:

• is valid
• authorizes you to drive the type of vehicle that you are using

You are not required to obtain a Québec licence as long as you do not take up residence in Québec."

 

And as a resident physician paying dues to the University and assigned a student number am I not a "trainee?"

TL:DR; I think a lot of people assume when you work in a new province you have to 'move there', but that's not always the case. For students, the key is this ‘taking up residence’ part and defining where your ‘primary residence’ is in Canada. You can change your primary residence when you move if you want. But there are typically options for students in a different province to claim that they are only temporarily away from home for school. So this allows you to not only do things like keep your driver’s license from your home province, but also pay taxes in your home province, and even keep your health insurance from your home province.

I mention it because tax rates between provinces can vary significantly, and this has saved me a lot of money. I am not entirely sure about Quebec, but this is the way it has worked in other provinces I have lived in when I was an undergraduate and graduate student, and I have always been under the impression that it’s a similar system across Canada. Although I don’t know if residents are considered ‘trainees’ in the same way.

When I moved to BC as a student, I was able to continue to file taxes as an Alberta resident and use my Alberta health care and my Alberta driver’s license for many, many years. Even when I was living full-time in BC and making an partial income as a student. However, when I eventually started working full-time and was no longer a student at all, my apartment in BC basically became my ‘primary residence’ according to the CRA definitions and it was hard to argue otherwise. So from that point forward I became a BC resident, and I had to switch everything over.  

There seems to be additional ways to get around this requirement though — for example, if you own property in one province, but work and rent in another, I have heard of people successfully arguing that their primary residence is where their home is, and that they’re only ‘temporarily’ out of province for the purposes of licensing, taxes, etc. Here’s another example that I think lays it out really well: https://www.fbc.ca/knowledge-centre/determining-your-province-residence-income-tax-purposes

[md2018plz]

I've lived in QC as a student. Service Ontario told me my health card was valid. Didn't drive though. Also when you file tax, your "residence" is determined by where you reside on December 31st of that year. So you'll be a Quebecois for 2 years.

[shematoma]

I'm wondering the same thing - I'm moving to a higher tax province for residency and don't want to take up official residence. It's not clear from all my reading whether you have to take up residence where you're doing residency since you are technically just there temporarily for training. Also where you reside on December 31 isn't necessarily where you're physically present on that day - just where your residence is, which could still be your original home province. They just use the December 31 to simplify things so that in any given year a person only has one province of residence even if they moved during the year.

I'd like to hear if any current residents have maintained their original province for tax purposes despite doing residency in another province, because laws are subject to interpretation and only real first-hand experience is worth anything.