User Manual

1. Initial Setup & Onboarding

When you first open the app, a 6-step setup wizard walks you through creating your profile. Complete all steps to enable accurate calculations.

1. Welcome: Tap "Get Started" to begin.
2. Profile Name: Enter your name or a nickname for the primary profile.
3. Critical Dates:
   • PR Landing Date (required) — The exact date you became a Permanent Resident. Double-check it against your COPR (Confirmation of Permanent Residence).
   • Pre-PR Arrival Date (optional) — If you lived in Canada as a student, worker, or visitor before your PR date, enter your first arrival date. Those days count as half-days toward your citizenship total (max 365 credited days).
   • PR Card Expiry Date (optional) — Enables PR card expiry reminders.
4. Notifications: Review what the app can notify you about (PR card expiry, citizenship reminders, ongoing trip alerts), then tap "Allow Notifications". You can adjust these later in Settings.
5. Auto-Tracking (Pro feature): Learn how background border-crossing detection works. Pro subscribers can tap "Enable Auto-Tracking" to grant "Always On" location access. Location data never leaves your device. You can skip and enable this later in Settings.
6. All Set: Your profile is saved. Tap "Go to Dashboard" to begin.

2. The Walkthrough Tutorial

After completing setup, a 5-page tutorial appears automatically on your first launch. It takes about 30 seconds and explains what each screen shows.

• Swipe left/right to move between pages, or tap Next / Back in the navigation bar.
• Tap Skip (top-left) to dismiss early.
• On the final page, tap "Add First Trip" to jump directly to adding your first travel entry.

To replay the tutorial later: Go to Settings → Help & Resources → Replay Tutorial.

3. Dashboard Overview

The Dashboard is your real-time command center. It updates every time you log or edit a trip.

• Safe to Travel Hero Card: Shows one of three states — Safe to Travel · N Days (how many more days you can spend outside Canada), Caution (approaching the 730-day limit), or Warning (at risk of falling below PR residency requirement).
• Start a Trip / Trip in Progress: A full-width button to log a departure in real time. While a trip is active, this swaps to a "Trip in Progress" banner showing destination and elapsed days. Tapping it takes you to the Trips tab.
• Citizenship Progress Ring: Shows your physical presence toward the 1,095-day requirement. Tap the ring to open the full Citizenship Record audit trail.
• PR Status Ring: Shows your residency obligation toward the 730-day PR requirement. Tap to open the same Citizenship Record screen.
• Milestone Card: Dark card showing your projected citizenship eligibility date and days remaining. Shows "Requirement Met" once you've crossed 1,095 days.
• PR Card Expiry Card: A color-coded card (green / amber / red) that appears when you've set a PR card expiry date in Settings. Tapping it navigates to Settings to update your card details.
• Safe Travel Planner (Pro): A card linking to the Safe Travel Planner. Free users see a "PRO" badge and are directed to the paywall.
• Recent Trips: Your 2 most recent travel entries for quick reference.
• Family Profile Switcher (Pro): When tracking multiple family members, a row of avatar chips appears below the hero card. Tap any chip to switch the active profile — all rings, cards, and milestone update instantly.
• Family Summary Strip (Pro): A horizontal scroll of compact cards showing the citizenship/PR ring status for each family member at a glance.

4. Managing Your Trips

Navigate to the Trips tab (airplane icon) to view and manage all travel records.

A. Adding a Past Trip

1. Tap the "+" (Add) button in the top right.
2. Enter the Departure Date — the day you left Canada.
3. Enter the Return Date — the day you returned to Canada.
4. Enter the Destination (city and country).
5. Select a Trip Purpose (Vacation, Business, Medical, Family Visit, etc.).
6. (Optional) Toggle Special Conditions if applicable:
   • Accompanying Canadian Spouse — traveling with a Canadian citizen spouse. These days do not count against your PR residency obligation.
   • Working for Canadian Business Abroad — employed by a Canadian company while outside Canada. Same exemption applies.
7. Tap "Save".

Important: The app counts the departure day and the return day as days in Canada, following IRCC's physical presence calculation rules.

B. Recording an Ongoing Trip (Real-Time)

1. On the Dashboard, tap "Start a Trip" as you are leaving Canada.
2. Enter the destination and tap "Start Trip". The Dashboard will now show a "Trip in Progress" banner. The Trips tab shows a red card at the top with a live day counter.
3. When you return to Canada, go to the Trips tab and tap "End Trip" at the bottom of the active trip card.
4. Confirm the end date (defaults to today) and tap "End Trip". The completed trip is automatically added to your history and your progress rings update immediately.

C. Editing or Deleting a Trip

1. Go to the Trips tab.
2. Tap any trip row to open the editor.
3. Modify any field and tap "Update Trip", or tap the Delete button to remove it.

D. Trip List Layout

Trips are grouped by year with dividers (most recent year at the top). Each row shows: destination, dates and duration, purpose tag, and a special condition badge if applicable.

5. Citizenship Record

Access this by tapping either progress ring on the Dashboard. This screen shows a transparent breakdown of every day counted toward your citizenship and PR calculations.

• Summary hero: Total days credited (e.g., "812 / 1,095"), your eligibility date, and a status badge.
• Three breakdown columns:
  • Green — Days in Canada as a PR
  • Amber — Pre-PR days credited (at 0.5×, capped at 365)
  • Red — Total days abroad (trips counted as absences)
• Trip timeline: Every trip shown in chronological order with its exact absence interval, so you can verify the math.

How the Calculations Work

Citizenship (1,095-day rule): The app scans every possible rolling 5-year window and finds the one that gives you the highest physical presence count. Once the best window is found, it projects forward to calculate the earliest date you can apply.

• Days before your PR landing date count as 0.5 days each (max 365 credited days, equivalent to 730 actual days as a temporary resident).
• Departure day and return day both count as full days in Canada.

PR Residency (730-day rule): You must have been physically present in Canada for at least 730 days out of every rolling 5-year period since your PR landing date.

• Trips marked "Accompanying Canadian Spouse" or "Working for Canadian Business Abroad" do not count as absences for PR residency purposes. They still count as absences for citizenship purposes.

6. Safe Travel Planner Pro

The Safe Travel Planner answers "Can I take this trip?" before you book.

Access: Tap the Safe Travel Planner card on the Dashboard.

1. Enter a Departure Date and Return Date for a planned future trip.
2. Enter the Destination.
3. The planner instantly shows how many days the trip adds to your absence total, your projected citizenship eligibility date with the trip included, and whether your PR residency status remains safe.

You can add multiple planned trips and see their cumulative effect. No data is saved until you choose to add a confirmed trip to your actual history.

7. Auto-Tracking Pro

Auto-Tracking uses your device's location to detect when you enter and leave Canada automatically — no manual input required.

Setup

1. Go to Settings → Auto-Tracking.
2. Toggle "Enable Auto-Tracking" on.
3. Ensure iOS location permissions for the app are set to Always (iOS will prompt you, or check iPhone Settings → Privacy → Location Services → Canadian Travel Tracker).

How It Works

• The app monitors significant location changes in the background. Battery impact is minimal.
• When a border crossing is detected, the app logs the event and can notify you to confirm.
• GPS coordinates used for detection are never uploaded or shared. All processing happens on your device.

Limitations

• Requires "Always" location permission — "While Using" is not sufficient.
• Detection may be delayed by a few minutes near the border depending on GPS signal.
• Air travel is supported; ferry and land crossings may occasionally require manual confirmation.

8. Family Profiles Pro

Track PR status and citizenship progress for your spouse and dependents in one app.

Adding a Family Member

1. Go to Settings → Manage Profiles.
2. Tap "Add Profile".
3. Enter their name and PR landing date (and pre-PR arrival date if applicable).
4. Tap "Save Profile".

Switching Between Profiles

• From the Dashboard: Tap any avatar chip in the profile switcher row that appears below the hero card. All rings, cards, and calculations update instantly to that person's data.
• From the Trips tab: The same avatar chips appear at the top of the Trips screen. The page title changes to "[FirstName]'s Trips" so it's always clear whose history is on screen.
• From Settings: Go to Settings → Manage Profiles and tap the person you want to view.

Each profile has its own: trip history, citizenship and PR calculations, and notifications.

9. Notifications & Reminders

The app can send three types of notifications:

To configure: Go to Settings → Notifications. You can enable or disable each type individually and adjust the lead time for the citizenship eligibility reminder (1 month, 3 months, or 6 months before).

If notifications aren't working, check iPhone Settings → Notifications → Canadian Travel Tracker and ensure alerts are enabled.

10. Data Export

Exporting to CSV

1. Go to the Trips tab.
2. Tap the Export button (square with arrow icon, top right).
3. Select "Export as CSV".
4. Use the iOS share sheet to save to Files, email it, or share it directly.

The CSV export includes all trips with their dates, destinations, duration, and purpose. It is suitable for use with the IRCC Physical Presence Calculator or sharing with an immigration lawyer.

Note: The export covers the currently active profile. Switch profiles before exporting if you want another person's trip history.

11. Settings & Profile Management

Settings is the third tab (gear icon).

12. FAQ & Troubleshooting