The UK layer: residence, FIG and worldwide tax
Residence is decided mechanically by the Statutory Residence Test: 183 or more UK days in a tax year makes you automatically resident, and the home test, full-time work test and sufficient ties test can catch you on fewer. Arrive mid-year and split-year treatment usually means you are taxed as a resident only from arrival. The FIG regime is the most valuable relief: after at least 10 consecutive tax years of non-UK residence you can claim 100% relief on qualifying foreign income and gains for your first four UK-resident years. The claim is per source, per year, on your Self Assessment return, and each claim year costs the personal allowance and the CGT annual exempt amount. The clock runs from your first resident year whether you claim or not.
RRSPs, RRIFs and the TFSA trap
RRSPs and RRIFs are generally respected as pensions under the Canada-UK treaty, so the fund is not taxed on internal growth while it stays wrapped, but withdrawals are generally UK-taxable once you are resident. Canada usually withholds at a domestic rate of broadly 25%; the treaty makes qualifying periodic pension payments taxable only in the UK, so Canadian tax on those can generally be reclaimed, while lump sums work differently. A FIG claim can shelter foreign pension withdrawals during your first four years, which can make the window an efficient time to draw down if the Canadian side works too. The TFSA is the trap: the UK does not recognise the wrapper, so once resident its interest, dividends and gains can be UK-taxable like any ordinary account, and after your FIG years it is fully exposed. Review it before you become resident.
Departure tax, property and the IHT horizon
Leaving Canada is a Canadian tax event in its own right: the CRA generally treats you as having sold most capital property at fair market value on your departure date, crystallising gains even without a sale, though Canadian real property and registered plans are excluded and payment can sometimes be deferred until an actual sale. On the UK side, Canadian rental income becomes taxable once you are resident, with treaty credit for Canadian tax paid. Longer term, the UK's residence-based IHT system brings your worldwide estate into scope once you have been UK resident for 10 of the last 20 tax years, with the nil-rate band at £325,000. Horizon UK Tax Solutions models the Canadian and UK timelines together on fixed fees agreed upfront; book a free clarity call at /book before you set a departure date.