All About Estates
By Eric Hendry
May 12th, 2026
What happens when the domestic tax rules of two different countries look at the same person and both conclude that the individual is a tax resident?
Navigating situations of “dual tax residency” is becoming increasingly common for estate planners and their clients. Whether for business, family, or lifestyle reasons, more and more Canadians seem to be putting down roots in more than one country. Others may seek to leave Canada altogether, only to discover that severing Canadian tax residency is more difficult than expected. The result is that tax dual-residency situations are quite common.
A client’s treaty residence can determine not only which country holds the primary right to tax income during life, but also which tax regime applies at death.
Fortunately, most of Canada’s bilateral tax treaties contain a set of “tie-breaker” rules designed to resolve dual-residency by assigning a single country of residence for treaty purposes. Understanding how tax treaties resolve questions of dual-residency is essential to structuring an effective cross-border estate plan.
