Canadian immigration mail and decision letters follow the address IRCC has on file. A missed letter about a work-permit extension, medical request, or PR card can stall a move even when your lease in Toronto or Calgary is already signed.
Which IRCC tool should you use?
IRCC's Change of Address online service is mainly for people with an active application in progress. Answer the on-page questions for permanent residence, temporary residence, citizenship, or PR card files so IRCC routes you correctly.
New permanent residents who still need to receive a first PR card should use Address Notification (or the portal steps tied to confirming PR), not the ordinary change tool meant for other cases. IRCC help pages stress that mix-up. You generally have 180 days from becoming a PR to provide a Canadian mailing address for card delivery; details sit on the PR card page.
If the online tools do not match your situation, use the IRCC web form and include the application numbers and names IRCC asks for. Allow several business days before assuming the system has refreshed.
What else must change when you move?
IRCC is only one mailbox. Update the Canada Revenue Agency through CRA My Account or CRA's change-of-address process so refunds and benefit cheques follow you. Re-enrol or transfer provincial health coverage when you change provinces, because OHIP, MSP, and RAMQ do not travel automatically.
Tell your bank and rewrite direct deposits. Exchange or update your driver licence under the new province's deadlines. Employers, schools, and mobile carriers need the new address for tax slips and contracts.
Moving from English-majority provinces into Quebec also changes language and health paperwork expectations in Montreal and beyond; plan those agency visits before the old cards expire.
Temporary residents versus permanent residents
Work-permit and study-permit holders should update IRCC whenever an application is open and whenever IRCC instructions say contact details must stay current. Even without a paper letter pending, wrong email addresses block portal messages.
Permanent residents should treat address accuracy as part of card renewals and residency-obligation record keeping. Keep copies of confirmation screens or web-form reference numbers.
Common misconceptions
One misconception is that telling your landlord or bank updates IRCC automatically. It does not. IRCC needs its own notice through the correct tool.
Another is that one IRCC form covers CRA and provincial health. Those are separate agencies with separate change processes.
Summary
Use IRCC Change of Address, Address Notification, or the web form based on whether you are a new PR or have another active file.
Then update CRA, provincial health, banking, and licensing so every Canadian institution points to the same home address.
Sources
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