Disposing of property before declaring non-residents + RRSP contribution as non-resident

[polska]

Hi,
I am Canadian who obtained a L1 visa in October 2022, however we have been going back and forth to the US, not yet fully moved. For 2023, we flew to the US early January and stayed for 3 months. We have been in Canada since April to sale our house and take care of all our affairs. All our belongings, house, car, etc, are in Canada.
For the 2023 tax year, we plan to declare a departure date (become non-residents for Canadian taxes) by mid June (after house sale closes and we finally move to the US), then file as residents in the US.
1.- since we are selling our house prior to declaring non-residents and the house is our primary residence, we do not have to pay any tax in Canada, correct?
2.- We will fill out taxes in Canada and declare our income from the US for the whole year, however CRA will only tax our US income for the period until we were residents (mid June). Is this the right understanding?
3.- We want to maximize RRSP contributions to minimize income to be reported to CRA (solely US in 2023) and potentially pay no taxes in Canada. Can we continue to contribute to our RRSP after we become non-residents in Canada for tax purposes? or do we need to do all RRSP contributions prior to this date?
I appreciate the feedback,
Polska

[nelsona]

1. Correct, but you would not have to pay any tax even if you sold a year after departure, so dpon;t let that drive your decisions. It os simpler however if you sell before official departure, due to non-resident paperwork.

2. On your departure return you would only report the US income from before your departure. You don't report any for the time after you lesve.

3. That will depend on the company you deal with. Many will not accept new contributions after leaving Canada. You will also want to find out is they will allow you to trade when in US (most bank-type trustees will not). But getting back to contributions, since you will be only reporting partial income for the year. and you will get credit for the tax you pay in US on that income, an RRSP contribution for 2023 may not be worth it. After all, you will be paying 15 or 25% in Canada when you take the money, you want to be sure that you are getting at least that much of a deduction. Driving your tax to zero means the last 15,000 of contributions are not really giving you much or a tax savings, percentage-wise,

[polska]

Thanks Nelsona, greatly appreciate the feedback