Before you start

Social Insurance Number
T4 slips from employers and T5 slips for investment income
Records of foreign income and foreign property
A determination of the date you became a tax resident

Step-by-step

1
Establish the date you became a tax resident
Canadian tax residency turns on residential ties — a home, a spouse, dependants, and secondary ties like bank accounts, a driving licence and provincial health cover — rather than on a day count. Your first return covers only the part of the year after that date.
OnlineWho: You
2
File one return for federal and provincial tax together
Alberta's provincial tax is calculated on the same federal return and filed with the CRA. The deadline is 30 April for most people, and 15 June if you or your spouse are self-employed, though any balance owing is still due 30 April.
OnlineWho: YouBy 30 April
3
Report foreign property above the threshold on form T1135
Residents holding specified foreign property costing more than CAD 100,000 in total must file this annually. It captures foreign bank accounts, shares and rental property, but not personal-use property. Penalties for not filing are severe and applied per year.
OnlineWho: You
4
Understand that your first year gives you no RRSP room
RRSP contribution room is generated by the previous year's Canadian earned income, so a newcomer has none in year one. TFSA room starts from the year you became a resident. Check your own figures in the CRA account rather than assuming.
OnlineWho: You
5
Budget for Edmonton property tax if you buy
Alberta charges no land transfer tax, unlike Ontario and British Columbia, which makes entering the market tens of thousands cheaper. Annual municipal property tax is billed by the city and can be spread monthly through its instalment plan. Edmonton's mill rate is not the lowest in the region, so compare across the metropolitan municipalities if you are choosing where to buy.
OnlineWho: You
6
Keep records against a future departure tax
Ceasing Canadian tax residency triggers a deemed disposition of most assets at fair market value, with tax on the accrued gain. It is far easier to plan for with records kept from the beginning than reconstructed at the end.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Social Insurance Number
T4, T4A and T5 slips
Records of foreign income, accounts and property
Property tax records, if you own
Receipts for deductible expenses, medical costs and childcare

Things most newcomers don’t know

Alberta's income tax advantage is a burden advantage, not the lowest rates in Canada.

The claim that Alberta has 'the lowest income tax rates in Canada' circulates constantly and is false — British Columbia's first bracket rate and Saskatchewan's top rate are both lower. What Alberta actually has is the highest basic personal amount of any province, CAD 22,769 for 2026, so you earn substantially more before provincial tax starts at all, and 8% on the first roughly CAD 61,200 after that. The result is genuinely the lightest overall provincial burden in the country for most earners. Model your own net figure rather than comparing headline rates in either direction.

Source: Government of Alberta; Canada Revenue Agency

No provincial sales tax compounds into a bigger difference than the rate table suggests.

Alberta charges only the 5% federal GST where British Columbia adds 7% and Quebec 9.975%, and it applies to almost everything you buy, every week, for as long as you live here. Combined with the basic personal amount and the absence of a payroll health levy, the annual difference against the same nominal salary in Vancouver or Montreal is substantial — and it is the calculation worth doing before comparing job offers across provinces.

Source: Canada Revenue Agency

Canadian tax residency is decided by ties, not by counting days.

People arrive expecting a 183-day rule. One exists, but it is a secondary test. The primary test is residential ties: where your home is, where your spouse and dependants are, then secondary ties like bank accounts, a driving licence and provincial health cover. Registering for AHCIP and getting an Alberta licence in week one are themselves ties. You can become a Canadian tax resident well before 183 days, and worldwide income is taxable from that date.

Source: Canada Revenue Agency

Alberta has no land transfer tax, and it never appears in cost-of-living comparisons.

Ontario and British Columbia both levy substantial transfer taxes on property purchases, running to tens of thousands of dollars on an average home, and Toronto adds a municipal one on top. Alberta charges only small registration fees. Combined with Edmonton's much lower house prices, the cost of actually entering the housing market here is dramatically lower than in the large eastern and western cities — and it is a one-time saving that no index captures.

Source: Government of Alberta

Common mistakes to avoid

Repeating the claim that Alberta has the lowest income tax rates in Canada, which is not true.
Comparing salaries between provinces without adjusting for sales tax and the basic personal amount.
Assuming a 183-day rule determines when you became a tax resident.
Missing the T1135 foreign property filing and incurring per-year penalties.
Planning to contribute to an RRSP in your first year, when you have no room.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.