Moving to Japan from Canada

More than JPY 11,000,000 a year: The Immigration Services Agency says annual income that meets a minimum (to be safe, more than JPY 11 million a year) is needed at the time of application. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists a tax payment certificate, an income certificate, an employment contract or a contract with a business partner that states the period and the amount as proof. The agency's Q&A says the most recent annual income counts, an expected raise or a new job paid at that level can count, a sole proprietor is judged on profit after necessary expenses rather than the contract amount, and several stable incomes can be added together. At the Bank of Canada's daily average rate of 15 October 2026 (C$0.00898 per yen), the minimum is about C$89,800. To be safe, have more than JPY 11,000,000 a year, about CA$98,800.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists Canada among the 74 visa-exempt countries and regions and says the period granted at landing is 90 days. Citizens of a few countries (Austria, Germany, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) can stay up to six months by applying for an extension before the 90 days end; Canada is not in that group, so plan on 90 days. The agency pages do not say whether remote work for an employer abroad counts as an activity on a visit, and the ministry describes the short stay as one that "does not include remunerative activities". The six-month digital nomad status exists for people who work remotely from Japan. Canada's advice warns that you cannot apply for a business, work or student visa once you have entered Japan as a tourist, that working without the right visa is illegal, and that overstaying is a criminal offence with fines, deportation and a possible re-entry ban. It also says your passport must be valid for the expected length of your stay and that customs officials may ask for a return or onward ticket, confirmed accommodation and proof of funds. The Embassy of Japan in Canada points to Visit Japan Web for pre-registering your arrival.

It needs annual income that meets a minimum (to be safe, more than JPY 11,000,000 a year) at the time of application, private medical travel insurance with treatment cover of JPY 10 million or more, and a passport from a country in the agency's chart, which includes Canada. You may not work for a Japanese organisation or person under an employment or contractor agreement. The agency's outline says your stay under the status must not exceed six months within a year, and its Q&A says you can re-enter with the status once six months have passed after leaving. There is no residence card. A spouse or child can come on a separate six-month status. Longer routes without a Japanese job offer need more: Business Manager (periods of up to five years) asks for capital or invested funds that meet a minimum (to be safe, more than JPY 31 million), a full-time employee, Japanese at B2 level held by you or the employee, three years of management experience or a master's degree, and a business plan checked by a qualified expert; the long stay for tourism and recreation (six months, up to one year) asks for savings above a minimum (to be safe, hold more than JPY 31 million) and does not cover work; J-Find (up to two years) is for graduates of a university in the top 100 of two world rankings within five years of the degree, with savings that meet a minimum (to be safe, hold more than JPY 210,000); and the startup visa (up to two years) needs a startup plan checked by a certified local authority. Highly Skilled Professional points are scored on a salary from an organisation in Japan or on running a business there. Young Canadians who live in Canada also have the working holiday visa under a 1986 agreement. The Embassy of Japan in Canada says it is free for Canadian citizens, can be granted twice in a lifetime (two one-year stays) or once for two consecutive years, and is meant for a holiday: people who mainly intend to work cannot apply, and work is a side activity. The consulates general in Calgary and Montréal state an age of 18 to 30 and ask for a bank statement above a minimum (to be safe, more than C$3,600) for one person, more for a couple, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says 18 to 25 unless Canada and Japan agree to 30, so ask your consulate which applies to you. Whether the visa fits remote work for an employer abroad is not stated on those pages.

Documents in a foreign language need a Japanese translation when filed with the agency, and certificates issued in Japan must be under three months old. A spouse or child adds proof of the relationship and a copy of your passport. The agency's Q&A says that if you are outside Japan nobody in Japan can file the certificate of eligibility for you, so you apply for the visa directly at the embassy or consulate. The Embassy of Japan in Canada says visa matters are handled by the office that covers where you live: the embassy in Ottawa for the Ottawa region, and consulates general in Vancouver (British Columbia and Yukon), Calgary (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut), Toronto (Ontario outside the Ottawa region) and Montréal (Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador). Consular services need an appointment, and visa fees are exempt for Canadian passport holders under an agreement between Canada and Japan. The embassy's general FAQ (a September 2024 copy) says most visas are issued in 4 to 7 business days, that cases referred to the ministry in Japan can take 1 to 2 months, and that there is no express service. How long the digital nomad visa takes is not stated, so it is unknown. The embassy runs an English-language hotline for general visa questions, open 24 hours.

Anyone else is a non-resident, taxed only on income from sources in Japan, and the guide says pay for personal services performed in Japan is Japan-source income even if it is paid abroad. The agency's digital nomad Q&A says pay for work done in Japan can be exempt under the tax convention when the conditions are met, which in most conventions include staying 183 days or less in the taxable year or in any 12-month period, and that it is not exempt if you go over or if a Japanese employer pays you. The Canada–Japan convention counts by calendar year. For an employee, pay is taxable only in Canada if you are in Japan no more than 183 days in the calendar year concerned, your employer is not a Japanese resident, and a Japanese permanent establishment or fixed base does not bear the pay. Days are counted by calendar year, so a stay that crosses 31 December is split between two years and any earlier visit in the same calendar year adds to the count. A six-month stay can last 181 to 184 days, so plan your dates with an adviser.

Your plan of up to six months with no residence card points to non-resident status in Japan, but a stay that turns into a longer one can change that. The Canada Revenue Agency looks at your residential ties, such as a home, a spouse or dependants, and social ties: if you leave for a short time and keep them you are usually still a factual resident of Canada, taxed on world income. If you are also resident in a country Canada has a tax agreement with, you may instead be a deemed non-resident of Canada. The Canada–Japan convention does not give a list of tie-breakers for someone resident in both countries: it leaves that to the two tax authorities to settle by mutual agreement. Form NR73 asks the CRA for its opinion on your status before you go.

Article 15 covers employment: pay for work done in Japan is taxable only in Canada if you are present for no more than 183 days in the calendar year, the employer is not a Japanese resident, and the pay is not borne by a Japanese permanent establishment or fixed base. Article 14 says professional and other independent income is taxable only where you are resident unless you have a fixed base regularly available to you in the other country, and Article 7 says a business's profits are taxable only in its home state unless it has a permanent establishment in the other, so a Canadian sole proprietor is generally taxed only in Canada; whether a rented flat or shared desk could be a fixed base or permanent establishment was not checked. Under Article 21, Canada deducts tax paid in Japan on Japan-source income from its own tax on that income. The National Tax Agency says a non-resident with Japan-source pay for services that is not subject to withholding files a quasi-final return before leaving Japan, and that treaty-relief returns for conventions with a limitation on benefits article need extra attachments; Canada is not on its list of those conventions, and what a Canadian needs to attach to claim an exemption was not stated.

If you stay a Canadian resident and own specified foreign property, including funds held outside Canada, costing more than $100,000 at any time in the year, you file Form T1135. If you instead cut your ties and become a non-resident, you are treated as having sold most property at fair market value on the day you leave, with exceptions that include Canadian real estate, RRSPs and TFSAs; Form T1161 lists your property if it is worth more than $25,000 and Form T1244 lets you elect to defer the tax. A stay of up to six months with a home and family kept in Canada does not look like that, but the CRA decides on the facts. This describes the mechanism, not your bill.

A permanent transfer does not count, and whether a six-month remote worker needs a certificate was not checked. CPP benefits can be paid outside Canada, and Old Age Security payments may stop after more than 6 months outside Canada unless you qualify to receive them abroad; the 20 years of residence it asks for can include time in a country with an agreement, such as Japan. The agreement says nothing about health insurance. The digital nomad status carries no residence card, and the agency says holders are not eligible to join Japan's public medical insurance, which is why private cover of JPY 10 million is required. This describes the system, not your bill.

Visa fees are exempt for Canadian passport holders. The embassy runs a 24-hour English hotline for general visa questions (+1-587-883-9002) and points to Visit Japan Web for pre-registering your arrival. Mention your nationality and where you live when you contact it.

It advises insurance that covers medical evacuation and hospital stays. It also limits what medicine you can bring: a one-month supply of prescription medication or a two-month supply of non-prescription medication, with a doctor's note, and nothing with narcotics or codeine without advance import certification. Your provincial plan has its own rules for time away. Ontario's page sets a route for people away more than seven months in a 12-month period, and British Columbia's page is written for a permanent move, so for a stay of six months or less ask your plan what it covers abroad and for how long. The price of a policy that meets the rule was not found, so it is unknown.