Every new permanent resident of Canada is issued a Permanent Resident card, or PR card, that they can use to prove their status in Canada. Permanent residents of Canada must show their PR card when checking in for a flight to Canada, or they will not be allowed to board the plane. Even if a permanent resident is from a country which is considered visa-exempt, they have to show their PR card to fly to Canada.
In order to keep their PR status, a permanent resident must demonstrate that they have been physically present in Canada for at least 730 days (i.e. two years) during the five years prior to applying for a new Canada PR card. These 730 days don’t need to be continuous. Some of your time abroad may count towards the 730 days (see below for more).
Current Processing times for PR card applications are approximately 4 – 6 weeks. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) does accept requests for urgent processing in limited situations, such as: