Moving to Italy from Canada

A May 2026 embassy sheet written for Tunis says about €27,000. The Italian government's June 2024 FAQ explains €24,789 as 3 x €8,263 for a worker without a spouse or children. The threshold is updated, so ask the consulate that will handle your file which figure it applies.

We found no statement on the Canadian pages of whether pension, rent or investment income counts toward the digital nomad test. For remote workers, the FAQ says income can be shown by the employment contract or a binding job offer paying at least the collective-agreement level.

The self-employment visa falls under annual quotas: 650 entries are authorised for 2027, with applications pre-filled on the Interior Ministry's ALI portal from 23 October to 7 December 2026. An employee route needs an Italian employer to request an entry clearance first; 76,200 non-seasonal entries are authorised for 2027, with a click day on 16 February 2027.

Foreign documents need an apostille or legalisation and a certified Italian translation. The Ottawa embassy says applicants should attend in person.

The Ottawa and Toronto pages give no minimum insurance cover amount. A May 2026 embassy sheet written for Tunis asks for a passport valid at least 15 months, which the Canadian pages do not, so check your consulate's rule.

All national-visa applicants are fingerprinted from 11 January 2025. You register on Prenot@mi without booking, and the consulate then arranges an appointment.

The Vancouver page serves Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and the Yukon but does not list this visa. For elective residence, expect proof of lodging for the whole stay, proof of funds from banks or pension bodies, and, in Toronto, your last two years of income tax returns.

The convention decides in order: permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, then nationality.

Form T1161 is needed if everything you owned was worth more than $25,000. The CRA asks for security if the federal tax deferred is over $16,500 ($13,777.50 for former Québec residents). Tell Canadian payers and financial institutions that you have left.

The convention taxes employment income where the work is done, unless you are present for 183 days or less, the employer is not resident there and no local establishment pays you. Independent professional income is taxed only in your country of residence unless you have a fixed base in the other. Canada deducts Italian tax on Italian-source income, and Italy gives a credit for Canadian tax. We could not confirm whether the convention has a general saving clause, so ask an adviser.

Freelancers can use the flat-rate scheme: one 15% substitute tax, or 5% for the first five years of a genuinely new activity, up to €85,000 of takings. The impatriate regime taxes 50% of Italian-source income for people who were not resident in the three prior years. These pages do not say how either applies to Canadian-source work.

The CRA's table shows form CPT51 for a certificate of coverage, with a maximum initial detachment of 24 months. How it applies to a freelancer is not explained, so ask the CRA and INPS. Self-employed people without other pension cover pay into INPS's Gestione Separata at 26.07% for 2026, up to €122,295.

A CPP retirement pension can be paid abroad with one valid contribution; OAS only after 20 years' residence in Canada since age 18. Retraite Québec lists Italy among its entente countries but does not describe the entente, so Québec contributors should check it separately.

Some foreigners can join the Italian national health service voluntarily, from €2,000 a year (about C$3,200) for most categories. Whether a permit holder can use this route is unknown until you check with the local health authority.

OHIP can be kept if you were in Ontario at least 153 days in each of the two 12-month periods before you left, or for full-time temporary work abroad.

If you leave Canada and still have Canadian bank accounts or payments from Canada, the CRA says to tell those payers that you are no longer a resident. Which Canadian foreign-reporting forms apply is unconfirmed, so ask an adviser.

Torino sets 20 days from the move for the residence declaration and 45 days to check it, in a procedure described mainly for EU citizens and Italians.