Raiche – Court of Quebec finds that a suspended Quebec police officer had not severed his Quebec ties when he started living (except when in Quebec) with his son in Ontario

Raiche started living with one of his two sons in Petawawa Ontario when, in November 2015, he was suspended from his employment with the Quebec police force in connection with a criminal investigation of him. The suspension continued until his retirement at age 65 in September 2017. Jacques JCQ found that Raiche had not severed his residential ties with Quebec, given inter alia that he maintained significant ties with Quebec including owning two residential properties there which he did not rent out, including his home, which continued to hold all his furniture, and was used as the address for much of his correspondence and deliveries, and a home that he provided free of charge to his second son, significant continued voluntary support to his separated spouse there, frequent visits to Quebec, and continued holding of for example a Quebec driver’s licence and Quebec health card. Although acquitted of the criminal charges in 2018, he did not “return” to Quebec until 2020 after the completion of the ARQ audit of him.

In concluding that the taxpayer was resident in Quebec on December 31 of each of 2015 to 2018, Jacques JCQ stated:

Despite his presence in Ontario, Quebec constituted the only element in Mr. Raiche's life presenting a character of permanence and durability between 2015 and 2018. He settled there and maintained his ordinary mode of life with his network of social relations.

Neal Armstrong. Summary of Raiche v. Agence du revenu du Québec, 2024 QCCQ 7814 under s. 2(1).