Welcome Nomad!

[Nw89]

Hi all,

I am currently working for a Canadian company in Canada but am planning to relocate back to France where my mother lives and also plan to spend some months of the year in the UK as well. I would like to continue working for the same Canadian company as my job doesn't require me to actually be in Canada and I can work remotely.

As I will no longer have a Canadian work permit when I relocate to Europe and cannot obtain another one I am wondering what the legalities are for being paid in France/UK by a Canadian company without a Canadian work permit.

I am thinking I might have to register a company of my own in France or the UK that I can then invoice the Canadian company from, or register myself as an entrepreneur? Will I fall into any trouble by doing work for them some times in France and sometimes in the UK. How would that work with taxes?

Any advice on this if anyone has any experience would be GREATLY appreciated!

[Robert O'Kruk]

Hey Nw89,

Fellow Canadian here. Here's what most Canadian digital nomads are doing in similar circumstances. Assuming you still have a Canadian bank account, you can get paid normally by the company, or you can invoice them from your own name, no need to to register as a company (unless you want to, if so there's a slightly different answer). If they are paying you directly as an employee, they should automatically be deducting income taxes from your gross income and you don't really need to worry about anything. If they are paying you as a freelancer under your personal name (not an employee), you will need to set aside the correct amount of this income to pay income taxes.

To figure out the correct amount of Canadian income tax to save/pay, you need to look at the 2017 federal income tax rate, and your provinces 2017 income tax rate. Basically the more you make, the more you have to save/pay. If you are earning more than $30,000 CAD per year as a freelancer, you will need to register with the CRA and may have to start charging sales tax on the services you render.

Please keep in mind that working remotely in foreign countries, getting paid and paying taxes as detailed above, may not be technically legal in the countries you are visiting. Most people do the above and just say they are visiting for tourist/pleasure reasons even while earning income from Canada. Unfortunately most countries do not have laws that are up to date with modern day remote workers. Many countries are very difficult to legally work remotely in.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

[Nw89]

Thank you Robert for the fast response. That is useful information.

I probably should have mentioned - I am a U.K. citizen who has been working in Canada on a work permit but am soon to be without a permit and unable to get another which is why I'm planning to relocate. I am legally allowed to reside and work in the U.K. and France so my concern is the legal implications of being paid from the Canadian company without a Canadian work permit but while living in Europe. I'm thinking if they just continue to pay into my Canadian bank account after my work permit has expired that will raise some red flags with immigration which was why I was thinking I might need to go the route of invoicing them for a service rather than them paying me as an employee?

Are there restrictions as a "remote contractor or freelancer" as to the location of the people that hire you for your services?

[Robert O'Kruk]

Ah, sorry for the confusion. Yes I agree that there likely (not absolutely sure) would be legal issues if you are getting paid by a Canadian company as an employee into a Canadian bank account without having a work permit.

Invoicing them as a freelancer outside of Canada and having them pay you through a non Canadian bank account would be fine. As long as you technically are no longer an employee. As a Canadian citizen, business, NFP or regular corporation, there are basically no restrictions as to the location of freelancer you choose to hire. The only limitations may be around very specific types of work or industries. What do you do exactly?

[Nw89]

That's good to hear it's hard to narrow down the legalities by researching online! Most of the info I have found has been specifically for US companies rather than Canadian.

I do a variety of things for the company - digital design, website upkeep, payroll, invoicing, some office admin stuff etc etc.

[Robert O'Kruk]

All of those types of work are fine for Canadians to outsource and pay international freelancers to do