Canadian status when becoming a US-resident on J1

[mappiq]

I am a Canadian living in the US with J1 status. I will soon have been in the US for 5 calendar years and therefore will henceforth be considered a US resident alien for tax purposes (starting 2015).
Main question: What then becomes of my Canadian residency status? Do I automatically become a Canadian non-resident? Can I remain a Canadian resident? My family and most of my money is in Canada.

Another question: can I still use my Canadian broker? If not, must I close my Canadian brokerage accounts, or can I leave them open? (I have already made sure to close my TFSA.)

Thanks!

[nelsona]

Yes, the moment you can begin counting days in US towards tax presence, you are non-resident of Canada. You file a departure return in Canada for that year, with the 5 year date as your departure date.

[nelsona]

You should move all your holding to US; your broker is not allowed to deal with you while living in US.

[mappiq]

Thanks for your answers!
Can I still choose to remain a Canadian resident as well? (I plan to possibly return to Canada just 1.5 years later anyway, and I pay very little tax since I don't earn much right now, so if possible, I'd like to keep my Canadian residency even if I become a US resident.)

[mappiq]

Can I leave my non-registered Canadian mutual funds open? What would happen if I didn't close my accounts?

[nelsona]

You have no residential ties in Canada. Technically you should have closed your accounts when you moved 5 years ago, but because you were precluded from becoming a US tax resident, you remained a Cdn tax resident.

Now. you cannot, by treaty nor regulation.

So, you need to file departure return, which will trigger departure tax on all your investments.

You cannot maintain a non-registered account in Canada, regardless of what it contains. And since you cannot transfer Cdn mutual funds to US, your only option is to sell.