Is a Canadian living in US on J-1 visa still a resident of Canada for tax purposes?

[not_ari]

I am a Canadian living in the US on a J-1 visa since Fall 2017, and recently filed my US taxes as a non-resident alien. 

My question: Since I am a non-resident alien in the US, does that mean that I am still a resident of Canada for tax purposes? Specifically I am curious in how this affects contributions to my Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) in Canada. According to the Canadian website - https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/tax-free-savings-account/tax... -  any contributions to a TFSA as a non-resident will yield 1% tax per month (yikes). But, this shouldn't apply to me right, since I am a non-resident of the US (and thus must be a resident of Canada still)? Is it possible to be a non-resident of both US and Canada?

Thanks very much in advance.

[DS30 · Accepted solution]

You would still be a resident of Canada as long as you keep your permanent ties to Canada and are only in the USA on a temporary basis.

Your TFSA/RRSP continues as normal as long as you're a Canadian resident. Just remember that you will need to file both a Canadian residency return and a US nonresident return.

If you are a "resident of Canada" and only in the US on a temporary basis, then

• Make sure you maintain what a Canadian resident needs (e.g. home address, cdn bank accounts, cdn driver's license)
• File normal Canadian taxes, as a Canadian resident, and report all your worldwide income to CRA
• With the US, file 1040NR (you're a US non-resident alien)
• Keep using your TFSA, RRSP and all bank accounts as normal
  

[not_ari]

Great, this clarifies things for me. Thanks very much for your time and help!

[neorobo]

Curious, what if I'm not keeping my Canadian ties? I still have a single bank account, and nothing else ties me there. I have a bank account in a few different countries so I wouldn't think that ties me to be a resident of Canada.

However I have been in the US as a J1 Scholar (not student) since Feb 2018. I plan to change to a H1B soon, but in the mean time do I still have to pay Canadian taxes?