Key takeaways
- Include only non-registered shares, funds, crypto, foreign real estate and private shares
- Do not include your RRSP, TFSA, other registered plans, or Canadian real estate: they are exempt
- 50% of the net gain is added to your income for the year you leave
- Form T1161 is needed if your property is worth more than $25,000
- Deferring with T1244 needs security if federal tax is more than $16,500 ($13,777.50 in Quebec)
Who should use this calculator
Who this page is for: people planning to leave Canada who hold investments outside registered accounts, property abroad, crypto, or private company shares. It is also useful for residents who want to understand the cost of becoming non-resident before they decide.
The rule the calculator uses
When you emigrate, you are treated as having sold most of your property at fair market value (FMV) on your departure day. This is the deemed disposition. The gain is FMV minus your adjusted cost base (ACB). Half of the net gain is taxable. It is added to the income you earned while you were still resident that year.
Exempt property is left out: Canadian real estate, Canadian business property, registered plans (RRSP, RRIF, TFSA, RESP, RDSP, FHSA) and pensions. If you were resident in Canada 60 months or less in the 10 years before you leave, property you owned when you arrived is also exempt. Read the full departure tax guide for details.
How the calculator counts
- It adds the gains (or losses) on your two groups of assets. A loss in one group reduces a gain in the other.
- It takes 50% of the net gain as the taxable capital gain.
- It works out federal and provincial tax on your other income, then on your other income plus the taxable gain. The difference is the estimated departure tax.
- For Quebec, it reduces federal tax by the 16.5% Quebec abatement and uses Revenu Québec’s 2026 rates.
- It flags Form T1161 if the total value of the property you entered is more than $25,000, and whether security is needed to defer with Form T1244.
It does not include tax credits, the Ontario or PEI surtax, the alternative minimum tax, or foreign tax. If your other income is very low, your real tax may be lower because of the basic personal amount. If you have a very large gain in Ontario, the surtax can make it higher. Check your marginal rate with our marginal tax rate calculator.
Worked example
The default values show Maria from Ontario: $40,000 of other income, and ETFs worth $150,000 that cost $90,000.
- Gain: $60,000. Taxable (50%): $30,000.
- Federal tax on $70,000 minus federal tax on $40,000: about $4,946.
- Ontario tax on the same difference: about $2,175.
- Total: about $7,121, or about 11.9% of the gain.
Her property is worth more than $25,000, so she files T1161. Her federal tax is under $16,500, so she can defer with T1244 without posting security.
What to do next
- Get a statement showing the value of each asset on your departure day, and confirm your ACB with your broker.
- Decide whether to pay now or defer with T1244 (due April 30 of the year after you leave).
- Check how your new country will tax the same assets when you sell them, and whether it gives you a new cost base.
- If you will rent or sell Canadian property, estimate the withholding with the non-resident withholding tax calculator and the section 116 withholding calculator.
- Use a cross-border tax professional if the gain is large or you hold private company shares.