Marouka Lapierre

When you move, your tax obligations may vary, but it is when filing your income tax return that you can claim a reimbursement for your move. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and Revenu Québec allow you to deduct certain eligible expenses from your income.

🛑 However, if your employer provided you with an allowance to cover eligible moving expenses, you must include that amount in your income or deduct it from your moving expenses.

📄 Revenu Québec Form
📄 CRA Form

To deduct moving expenses, you must meet two conditions:

You moved to pursue post-secondary studies, to work, or to operate a business.

You moved at least 40 kilometres closer to your new place of study or work (including seasonal employment).

🧑‍🎓 Full-time students enrolled in a post-secondary program may deduct various eligible expenses from their annual financial assistance and carry forward any unused amounts (if expenses exceed the assistance received) to future years.

🕴️ Eligible workers may also deduct these expenses from their income when filing their tax return and carry forward any unused expenses to future years.

Deductible moving expenses include:

• Hiring movers
• Renting moving trucks or trailers
• Storage of household goods
• Temporary living expenses (accommodation and meals for you and your family while traveling to your new home, up to a maximum of 15 days)
• Meal and vehicle expenses
• Costs of maintaining your former vacant residence (interest, property taxes, insurance premiums, heating and utilities, up to $5,000), provided you made reasonable efforts to sell it
• Lease cancellation fees
• Costs related to selling your former residence (lease termination, advertising, notary or legal fees, real estate broker commission, mortgage penalty)
• Costs related to purchasing a new residence (legal fees, land transfer, etc.)
• Miscellaneous expenses (driver’s licence replacement, utility hook-ups, change of address)

📄 The complete list of eligible expenses is available on the CRA website.

Certain expenses are not eligible, such as:

• Mail forwarding costs
• Job search expenses
• Losses incurred on the sale of your home

The Canada Revenue Agency offers two methods to calculate meal and vehicle expenses: the detailed method and the simplified method.

The detailed method requires keeping all receipts to claim the exact amount, while the simplified method allows you to claim $23 per meal (up to $69 per day, per person) and a set per-kilometre rate based on the province.

Keep in mind that unused amounts (expenses cannot exceed your income) may be carried forward to a future year. Take advantage of it—these are savings that rightfully belong to you.


Source: Centris.ca