Leaving Canada for the United States?
Concerned About Canadian Departure Tax?
Understand What Needs Attention Before You Change Residency.
Leaving Canada can trigger complex financial and tax considerations, including potential departure-tax issues involving certain assets, business interests, investments, real estate, and timing-sensitive transactions.
Deborah Voronoff, CPA, helps clients understand how these issues fit into the broader financial decision, identify the financial issues that need attention, and coordinate the appropriate specialists before major steps are taken.
Canadian CPA • U.S. CPA • Based in Florida • 35+ Years in Finance & Accounting
Departure tax is not simply a filing issue.
When someone ceases to be a Canadian resident for tax purposes, certain property may be treated as though it was sold at fair market value immediately before departure.
That can create a tax liability even when no asset was actually sold.
Not every asset is treated the same way, and the timing of a move, sale, distribution, restructuring, or ownership change can materially affect the broader financial result.
- —Investment portfolios and other capital property
- —Private-company shares and certain business interests
- —Significant transactions before or after departure
- —Timing of residency changes and asset decisions
The important question is not only “How much departure tax might apply?”
The broader questions are often:
- —Should a transaction happen before or after the move?
- —Does a Canadian corporation create additional planning issues?
- —Could ownership changes or distributions matter before residency changes?
- —Which assets may raise departure-tax considerations?
- —How should departure-tax considerations be coordinated with U.S. residency planning?
- —What should happen first?
- —Which decisions are reversible now but difficult to change later?
The objective is to identify the issues while you still have options.
Why Deborah
Senior judgment across the whole financial picture
Deborah Voronoff is a CPA in both Canada and the United States, with more than 35 years of experience in finance and accounting.
She brings the financial, business, residency, estate, investment, and tax issues into one coherent decision framework — and makes sure the right questions are addressed before the client commits.
Every engagement receives Deborah’s direct senior-level involvement.
The written deliverable
A Cross-Border Pre-Move Review
Deborah’s role is to help turn a complicated move into a structured financial decision.
The review produces a written decision roadmap covering the major issues that deserve attention before residency changes.
- 01
Financial Issues Map
Identify the major financial issues triggered by the proposed move, including ownership, investments, real estate, retirement assets, and business interests.
- 02
Departure-Tax Considerations
Identify which areas may require technical departure-tax review by an appropriately qualified tax specialist.
- 03
Sequencing & Timing
Highlight decisions where timing may materially affect the outcome.
- 04
Advisor Coordination
Identify which tax, legal, immigration, estate, investment, or other specialists should be involved and what questions need to be resolved.
- 05
Decision Roadmap
Provide a written summary of the major issues, open questions, sequencing, risks, and recommended next steps before the move proceeds.
This review may be useful if…
- You are planning to move from Canada to the United States
- You own shares of a Canadian private corporation
- You hold significant investment assets
- You may sell or restructure a business
- You own significant real estate
- You are considering distributions, dividends, or ownership changes before moving
- You are unsure which assets may create departure-tax issues
- You have multiple professionals involved but no one integrating the overall decision
Request a Conversation With Deborah
Tell Deborah a little about your planned move. She will review the information personally before deciding whether the engagement is a good fit.
Already working with a tax specialist, immigration lawyer, or other advisor?
That’s normal.
Deborah works alongside existing tax professionals, immigration counsel, attorneys, investment advisors, bankers, and other specialists.
Her role is to understand the overall financial situation, identify where issues intersect, and help ensure specialist recommendations are considered together as part of the broader decision.
Specialized tax and legal advice remains with the appropriate professionals.
Before changing residency, understand what needs attention.
If departure tax may be relevant, the most important decisions often need to be made before residency changes — not afterward.