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The short answer
When you stop being resident in Canada, the CRA treats you as having sold most of your property at fair market value on your departure date, and any gain is taxed on your final resident return. This is "departure tax". Canadian real estate, RRSPs, TFSAs, pensions and some other property are excluded, and so is property you brought to Canada if you were resident for 60 months or less in the 10 years before leaving. You can elect on Form T1244 to defer the tax, with security if it is over C$16,500.
What departure tax is
Canada has no separate exit tax. Instead, the CRA’s page on dispositions of property for emigrants says that when you leave, you are considered to have sold certain property at its fair market value on the date you emigrated and to have reacquired it at that value. The gain is reported on your departure-year return, on Schedule 3, using Form T1243 to work it out. For many Nigerians going home, the property caught is a non-registered investment account, shares in a private company, crypto, or land in Nigeria itself.
What is caught and what is not
| Property | Deemed sold on departure? |
|---|---|
| Shares, ETFs and funds in a non-registered Canadian account | Yes |
| Shares in your Canadian private company | Yes |
| Land or a house in Nigeria | Yes (it is not Canadian real property) |
| Nigerian shares or a Nigerian business interest | Yes |
| Your Canadian home or rental property | No (Canadian real property is excluded) |
| Canadian business property used through a permanent establishment in Canada | No |
| RRSP, RRIF, TFSA, RESP, RDSP and pension rights | No |
| Property you owned when you arrived, if resident 60 months or less in the 10 years before leaving | No |
The last row matters to recent arrivals. If you landed in 2022 with a Lagos plot and leave in 2026, the plot you brought is excluded because you were resident for less than 60 months. A plot bought after arrival is not covered by that exclusion.
A worked example
Example only. Kunle became resident in 2016 and leaves for Abuja in June 2026. On his departure date he holds:
- a non-registered brokerage account: cost C$40,000, value C$70,000, gain C$30,000;
- a plot in Lugbe bought in 2019: cost C$25,000, value C$35,000, gain C$10,000;
- an RRSP and a TFSA: excluded;
- his Brampton condo: excluded, as Canadian real property.
Deemed gains total C$40,000. The CRA’s capital gains guide gives the inclusion rate as one-half, so C$20,000 is added to his 2026 taxable income. He has not received any cash from these "sales", which is why the deferral election exists.
Deferring the tax: Form T1244
You can elect on Form T1244 to defer paying the tax on deemed dispositions until you actually sell the property, with no interest charged on the deferred amount. The election is due by 30 April of the year after you leave. If the federal tax on the gains is more than C$16,500 (C$13,777.50 for former Quebec residents), the CRA asks for acceptable security. Below that, no security is needed.
Reporting what you own: Form T1161
Separately, if the fair market value of all the property you own when you leave is more than C$25,000, you file Form T1161, List of Properties by an Emigrant of Canada, with your return. The form’s instructions say which items can be left off the list; check them before you total your property. Filing late costs C$25 a day, with a minimum of C$100 and a maximum of C$2,500.
Your departure date and the final return
The CRA’s leaving Canada page says you usually become non-resident on the latest of the day you leave, the day your spouse or dependants leave, and the day you become resident in your new country. That date goes on page one of the return, and departure tax is calculated at that date. You should also tell Canadian payers and financial institutions that you are no longer resident, so they apply non-resident withholding. Our article on filing a Canadian return after moving to Nigeria covers the return itself, and form NR73 how to ask the CRA for its view on your status.
The Nigerian side
Once you are resident in Nigeria again, Nigeria taxes your world income and gains under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025. Canadian departure tax is triggered by leaving, not by a real sale, so a later actual sale in Nigeria of the Lugbe plot can be taxed there too. Article 13 of the Canada–Nigeria agreement lets each country tax capital gains under its own law, with credit through Article 23. Keep the T1243 valuations: they set the record of what you already paid tax on. See the treaty on capital gains.
What to check first
- Fix your likely departure date.
- List everything you own, with cost and value at that date.
- Separate excluded property (Canadian real estate, registered plans, property brought within 60 months).
- Estimate the deemed gains and decide whether to elect on T1244.
- File T1161 if total value is over C$25,000.
Where Pryme fits
Moving home means moving money. A Pryme account opened while you are in Canada stays with you in Nigeria, holding Canadian-dollar proceeds converted to US dollars or naira when you choose with Swap; the rate and the fee are shown before you approve.
Questions people ask
What is departure tax in Canada?
When you emigrate, the CRA treats you as having sold most property at market value on your departure date. The gain is taxed on your final resident return.
Is my Canadian house subject to departure tax?
No. Canadian real property is excluded from the deemed disposition. It stays taxable in Canada when you actually sell it.
Does departure tax apply to my land in Nigeria?
Yes, unless you owned it when you arrived and were resident in Canada for 60 months or less in the 10 years before leaving.
Can I delay paying departure tax?
Yes. Elect on Form T1244 by 30 April of the following year. Security is needed if the federal tax is over C$16,500.
Sources
- CRA: Dispositions of property for emigrants (modified 20 Jan 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- CRA: Leaving Canada (emigrants) (modified 17 Sep 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- CRA guide T4037, Capital Gains 2025 (modified 11 Feb 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- Global Affairs Canada Treaty Law database: Agreement between Canada and Nigeria for the avoidance of double taxation (signed Abuja, 4 Aug 1992) · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.