The snowbird playbook: spending winters in Arizona or Florida
How long you can stay, what to do about health coverage, and whether to rent or buy your winter home.
Plenty of Canadians spend the cold months in the southern US sun. As a visitor you can usually stay up to about six months in a 12-month period, but the number that matters for taxes is different. The US uses a "substantial presence" formula that counts days from the current year and part of the two years before, so regular long stays can make you look like a US tax resident even if you never meant to move.
Many snowbirds who come close to that line file a form with the IRS each year to show they keep a closer connection to Canada. Count your days carefully, keep travel records, and ask a cross-border tax adviser whether that applies to you.
Health coverage is the other big question. Each province sets its own rules for how long you can be away and keep your public coverage, and they differ. Provincial plans cover very little of a US hospital bill, so most snowbirds buy travel medical insurance for every trip and read the fine print on pre-existing conditions.
Buying a winter home is a different decision from renting one. A home that sits empty for half the year needs someone to check on it, and renting it out brings US tax filings and withholding rules for non-residents. When you eventually sell, US withholding on the sale price may apply too.
A simple way to start: rent in two places for a month each before you buy anything. You'll learn which neighbourhood you like, how far you really want to be from a golf course or the beach, and what winter prices look like.
Step-by-step rules with official sources: Moving between Canada and the USA ›