Moving to Singapore from Canada

More than S$31,000 a month: MOM's Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass asks for a fixed monthly salary (to be safe, have more than S$31,000 a month, or the equivalent in a foreign currency) for the 12 consecutive months before you apply, earned at an established company: market capitalisation of at least US$500 million or annual revenue of at least US$200 million. To be safe, plan for more than S$31,000 a month. At the Bank of Canada's rate of 15 October 2026, that is about CA$34,300. You can apply from outside Singapore and do not need a Singapore job offer. MOM says most cases take within 4 weeks.

That authority sets the length of your stay at the checkpoint and emails you an electronic visit pass, so the 30 days is not guaranteed. Submit the free SG Arrival Card within three days before you arrive; your passport must be valid for six months, and you may be asked for cash and proof of onward travel. Singapore's foreign ministry lists honorary consulates-general in Toronto and Vancouver; for a visit they list no visa fee or document list, and link to the foreign ministry's visa page, which names the immigration authority as the authority on visas. The authority says visit pass holders may not do any paid or unpaid employment or run a business unless they hold a work pass or do a work pass exempt activity; attending company meetings, conferences and training as a participant is allowed without notifying MOM. MOM says that people who hold a stay pass such as a Dependant's Pass do not need a work pass to work for an overseas employer, but we found no official page that says the same for a visitor, so remote work on a visit pass is unconfirmed: ask MOM before you plan around it. An extension is applied for online when 14 days or fewer remain, ICA decides the length, and a fee of S$40 applies once the stay reaches 90 days.

Every other route needs a Singapore employer or business. An Employment Pass is applied for by a Singapore employer and, for new applications before 1 January 2027, needs a salary test of about S$5,600 to S$10,700 a month depending on age (to be safe, have more than S$11,000 if you are 45 or over), plus a points test. From 1 January 2027 the salary test is about S$6,000 to S$11,500 a month depending on age; to be safe, have more than S$12,000 if you are 45 or over. The Personalised Employment Pass needs a higher monthly salary (to be safe, have more than S$23,000), excludes freelancers and needs continuous employment in Singapore. The EntrePass is for a Singapore start-up that has raised funding (to be safe, more than S$110,000) or has accelerator backing. Tech.Pass stops taking applications on 28 January 2027. The Global Investor Programme, which grants permanent residence, starts at a large investment (to be safe, more than S$11 million). MOM says an employer of record cannot sponsor a pass so that you can stay in Singapore while working for an overseas company.

MOM says most ONE Pass applications are decided within 4 weeks. The fee is S$105 per pass when you apply and S$225 when the pass is issued, plus S$30 for a Multiple Journey Visa if it applies. If you are approved, you get an in-principle approval letter and then have to make an appointment to have the pass issued in Singapore. Each year, by 31 January, you notify MOM of your professional activities and income for the year before. Canada's travel advice adds that Canadians staying longer than 6 months to work or live must have a medical examination in Singapore, with a chest X-ray and an HIV test, and that issuing a pass depends on the result.

IRAS says income for services rendered in Singapore is taxable, including for people who work for a foreign employer, even if the pay is not received in Singapore. Overseas income received in Singapore is generally not taxable, but IRAS lists working in Singapore for a foreign employer among the exceptions. A non-resident who works in Singapore for 60 days or less in a calendar year is exempt on those earnings, and every day you are in Singapore counts if you travel in for business. If you freelance, IRAS's guide for online sellers and service providers looks at where the operations that earn the income are based: income earned through an overseas platform is Singapore-sourced when those operations are in Singapore, and we found no IRAS page that settles the case of a freelancer on a visit pass, so ask IRAS or an adviser.

A non-resident employee who stays or works 61 to 182 days pays the higher of a flat 15% or the resident rates, and other non-resident income is taxed at 24%.

If you keep significant ties you are a factual resident and your income is taxed as if you never left, including income from outside Canada. You usually become a non-resident on the latest of the date you leave, the date your spouse or partner and dependants leave, and the date you become resident of the country you settle in. Form NR73 asks the CRA for its opinion. If you emigrate, you are treated as having sold most property at its fair market value on the day you leave; Canadian real estate, RRSPs, TFSAs and pensions are among the exceptions. Form T1161 lists your property if it is worth more than CA$25,000, and Form T1244 lets you defer the tax. This describes the mechanism, not your bill.

For pay for personal services, including professional services, performed in the other country, only your country of residence may tax it if you are there for no more than 183 days in the calendar year, the pay is from someone resident in your country, and a permanent establishment in the other country does not bear it. IRAS says you claim a treaty exemption with its claim form and a Certificate of Residence. Canada gives a credit for Singapore tax on income that arises in Singapore. Whether your pay fits these conditions needs an adviser; the Finance Canada text is a reference version without official sanction.

A Canadian employer must deduct CPP for an employee working abroad who usually reports to its Canadian workplace, or who is a Canadian resident paid from it; otherwise the employer can extend cover with form CPT8, or the employee can elect with form CPT20. We found no official page on CPP for freelancers living abroad, so that cost is unknown; confirm it with the Canada Revenue Agency. The CPP retirement pension can be paid outside Canada.

Canada's test is different: it looks at your residential ties, not a day count, so a long stay does not by itself end Canadian residence. Keep the record from your first arrival, because the pass type does not change either count.

Stamp duty on a lease of four years or less is 0.4% of the total rent. CEA warns that payment is not required to secure a viewing or a rental, and that payments should go to the owner, not the agent.