Departure date from Canada - what date to use

[polska]

We are Canadians who relocated to the US in 2023. We left Canada on January 10th, went back and stay in Canada from April to June while we sold our house (owned for 7 years, it was our primary residency), then left Canada on June 20th.
We plan to declare a departure date in our 2023 Canadian taxes:
- January 10th is most convenient from a tax standpoint as we will only be taxed on US income to that point. We understand you can sell your house and no be taxed for up to two years from departure date, so we are covered here. We are however concerned CRA could try to consider us residents until we sold our house (we stayed in Canada after January, most of our belongings where still in Canada). Our lawyer also asked us to sign a paper declaring we were Canadian residents when we sold the house. We think this was to protect himself, but has no impact on our tax status, however this raises a flag to us.
- June 20th: avoids any Canada residency status concerns however it will require declaring our income in the US for the same period and potentially paying taxes in Canada.
We are looking for advice on what date to use. Can you give us your thoughts on the above?

[nelsona]

It would be hard to conclude you left Canada in January since you returned for THREE months after staying in US for only that short period.

Besides, since you attested that you lived in Canada while you sold the house, I would stick with the June date.

Even if you declared Jan departure date, you seemed to have worked while physically in Canada those three months, so would need to report the income (with no opportunity to claim foreign tax credit.)

[SergeP]

Is the statement "not to be taxed for up to two years from departure date" (on home sale) correct? Isn't it one year for Canada?

[nelsona]

i don't know where this "statement" comes from, but a person selling a property that once was there principal residence ca add one year to that period in determining the taxable portion of the proceeds,

[polska]

Thanks Nelsona, we will contacting your firm to help with our taxes. We highly appreciate all advice