Israeli Law Q&A for Canada Residents

You can use the money, but not the account. Neither an RRSP nor a TFSA is allowed to hold foreign real estate, so you cannot register an Israeli apartment inside the plan. A TFSA withdrawal is tax-free in Canada and is the clean source of funds. An RRSP withdrawal is fully taxable at your marginal rate with CRA withholding of 10 to 30 percent, and the Home Buyers' Plan does not apply to a home outside Canada. On the Israeli side you then pay purchase tax at the non-resident rate.

Yes, if its cost plus your other foreign holdings exceeded CAD 100,000 at any point in the year. An Israeli property held to earn rent is 'specified foreign property' for the CRA's Foreign Income Verification Statement (form T1135), unlike a purely personal-use vacation home, which is excluded. You also report the rental income itself on your Canadian return as worldwide income, claiming a foreign tax credit for Israeli tax paid. The threshold is measured on cost, not current market value.

You need a separate Israeli order. Israel does not reseal or automatically recognise a Canadian grant of probate, whether it is an Ontario Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee or a grant from another province, so an estate with Israeli assets needs its own succession order (tzav yerusha) or will execution order from the Inheritance Registrar under the Succession Law 1965. The Canadian grant is filed as supporting evidence, now apostilled since Canada joined the Apostille Convention in January 2024, and translated into Hebrew.

Yes, Israeli hospitals treat visitors, but a Canadian pays for it privately. Provincial plans such as OHIP or RAMQ reimburse almost nothing for planned treatment abroad, so dialysis or chemotherapy in Israel is funded out of pocket or through a medical-tourism arrangement, usually against an upfront deposit or a payment guarantee. A dialysis session commonly runs around NIS 1,000 to 1,500 at the non-resident tariff, and all treatment is governed by the Patient Rights Law 1996.

Yes. Private urgent-care clinics such as Terem treat walk-in patients regardless of residency on a self-pay basis, so a Canadian visitor can be seen the same day without an Israeli health fund. Your provincial plan (OHIP, RAMQ, and the rest) gives little or nothing toward care in Israel, and the National Health Insurance Law 1994 excludes non-residents, so you pay on the spot and claim it back from your travel insurer. Keep the itemised invoice and the English medical report, which under the Patient Rights Law 1996 you are entitled to receive.

Yes. The Canada Pension Plan is contribution-based, not residence-based, so there is no residence test to keep receiving it abroad, and Service Canada will deposit it into an Israeli account. Canada generally applies non-resident withholding tax at a statutory 25%, subject to reduction or reallocation under the Canada-Israel tax treaty. On the Israeli side, a new immigrant is exempt from Israeli tax on the pension for ten years under Section 14 of the Income Tax Ordinance 1961, so an oleh commonly pays no Israeli tax on CPP during that period.

Yes, if you built up entitlement to the Israeli old-age pension (kitzvat ziknah) as an insured resident, the National Insurance Institute generally pays it to you while you live in Canada, and the Canada-Israel social security agreement helps bridge contribution gaps. Israel does not tax the National Insurance old-age pension, but Canada taxes it as foreign pension income on your T1. The pension can be paid to a foreign or Israeli account once your entitlement and identity are confirmed.

Yes, Israel withholds tax at source on dividends paid to a non-resident, but the Canada-Israel tax treaty caps the rate, commonly at 15% for a portfolio shareholder, instead of the higher domestic rate. Canada then taxes the same dividend as foreign income, so you report it on your T1 and claim a foreign tax credit (T2209) for the Israeli tax, up to the Canadian tax on that income. If holdings cost over CAD 100,000 you also file Form T1135.

No. Canada has no inheritance, estate, or gift tax, so an inheritance received from Israel is not income and goes on no Canadian return as a receipt. What follows you instead is a reporting duty (the T1135 kicks in once your foreign property passes CAD 100,000) and tax on any future income or gain from the inherited asset. Israel charges no estate tax either, but it taxes a later sale from the deceased's original cost with no step-up.

Yes, medical repatriation from Israel is arranged routinely, but it is expensive and rarely covered by Canadian provincial health plans. An air ambulance from Israel to Canada commonly runs USD 25,000 to 90,000 (roughly NIS 90,000 to 330,000) depending on the medical escort required, while provincial insurers such as OHIP or RAMQ reimburse only a small fixed out-of-country amount. Private travel or expatriate insurance is what actually pays, and the treating Israeli hospital must certify the patient as fit to fly and release the records under Section 18 of the Patient Rights Law 1996.

Most likely yes, on some assets. When you cease Canadian tax residency, subsection 128.1(4) of the Income Tax Act deems you to have sold almost all your property at fair market value the day before you leave, triggering capital gains tax. Canadian real estate, RRSPs, RRIFs and TFSAs are exempt. You report it on Form T1243, list property over CAD 25,000 on Form T1161, and can elect to defer payment until you actually sell.

Not in Israel's eyes. Israel does not recognise the TFSA's tax-free wrapper, so to an Israeli tax resident the income and gains inside it are ordinary taxable foreign investment income. A new immigrant is shielded by the ten-year exemption under Section 14 of the Income Tax Ordinance, but once that window closes the account becomes fully taxable in Israel. On the Canadian side you keep the TFSA but should stop contributing once you become a non-resident.