Moving to Panama from Canada

You get two years of provisional residence, then permanent residence, on the basis of one of three things: a job with a Panamanian company (you and the employer must also get a work permit from MITRADEL); property in your name or your company's name worth a set minimum (to be safe, have more than US$210,000), which can be bank-financed; or a fixed-term deposit at a set minimum (to be safe, have more than US$210,000) held free of liens for three years. Migración's checklist asks for certified cheques of B/.250 and B/.800. Pensionado: a lifetime pension with a monthly minimum (to be safe, have more than US$1,100 a month) from a foreign government, an international body or a private company. The monthly minimum is lower if you buy property worth over a set minimum (to be safe, buy for more than US$110,000), where the checklist says a lower monthly minimum. Spouses can combine pensions, each dependant adds a monthly amount (to be safe, add more than US$300 a month for each) to what you must show, and the permit has no end date. We found no guidance on whether the Canada Pension Plan or Old Age Security counts, so ask Migración. Qualified investor (Decree 17 of 8 September 2026, in force on promulgation in the Gaceta of 16 September 2026): the options are a first-sale (new) property at a set minimum (to be safe, have more than US$310,000); a resale property at a higher set minimum (to be safe, have more than US$510,000); a set minimum in securities through a licensed broker (to be safe, have more than US$510,000), held five years; or a five-year fixed deposit, a set minimum in a private bank (to be safe, have more than US$760,000) or a lower set minimum in Banco Nacional or Caja de Ahorros (to be safe, have more than US$510,000). The funds must come from abroad. It replaces Decree 722 of 2020. Migración's site still lists older own-solvency checklists with their own set minimum (to be safe, have more than US$310,000) that we did not compare with the new decree.

The visa is an immigration status and does not itself set your tax treatment. We found no Dirección General de Ingresos page saying whether pay for work you do physically in Panama for a foreign employer counts as foreign-source, so that is unknown: ask a Panamanian adviser before you rely on it. Meanwhile Canada keeps taxing you on worldwide income for as long as the CRA treats you as a resident, which depends on your ties to Canada, not on Panama's rules.

For taxable Panamanian income, the Tax Code rates for individuals (Law 8 of 2010) are 0% up to B/.11,000, 15% on the part from B/.11,000 to B/.50,000, then B/.5,850 plus 25% above B/.50,000; we read the 2010 text and did not check later amendments. The general sales tax (ITBMS) in that text is 7%. Law 926 of 28 May 2026 adds economic-substance rules for entities in multinational groups and, in the articles we read, does not address individuals.

If you keep significant ties, you are usually still a factual resident. You usually become a non-resident on the latest of leaving, your spouse or dependants leaving, or becoming resident in your new country. The deemed non-resident rule depends on a tax treaty, and there is none with Panama. Form NR73 asks the CRA for its opinion.

This describes the mechanism, not your bill.

Panama is not on Canada's list of social security agreements. A Canadian employer must deduct CPP for an employee abroad who usually reports to its Canadian workplace, or who is a Canadian resident paid from it; otherwise forms CPT8 or CPT20 may apply. CPP is payable abroad; OAS abroad needs 20 years in Canada after age 18. We found no confirmation of how CPP applies to freelancers abroad, so that is unknown. While you are still a Canadian resident, specified foreign property costing more than CA$100,000, which includes money deposited outside Canada, is reported on Form T1135.

Provincial cover differs: Ontario can keep OHIP for up to two years away if Ontario stays your primary home and you spent at least 153 days there in each of the two preceding 12-month periods, with emergency payments abroad capped (up to CA$400 a day for intensive care), while British Columbia ends MSP at the end of the month you leave permanently. Other provinces set their own rules, which we did not check. We found no priced insurance quote and no official page on CSS enrolment for foreigners, so those costs are unknown.

For tax you can ask the Dirección General de Ingresos for a free tax number (NT) online, with your passport, a migration movement record and proof of taxable income or an accountant's certificate; documents from abroad must be apostilled and in Spanish.