Hi guys, just realized my PR card is expiring very soon and I just submitted the renewal application online. I have booked the air ticket and will be back to Canada just about 2 days before the card expired. Giving the fact that I am not sure when I will get my renewal card and the trip is on March 2024, can I enter Canada at this situation? I meet all the requirements for card renewal.
Even if your PR card expired, as a Canadian (Canadian PR) with a right of return, upon arrival at a Canadian Port-of-Entry you would be allowed entry into Canada.
If you are boarding a flight on a date your PR card is still valid, even if only for another day, the airline should and most likely will allow you to board the flight to Canada. (Boarding decisions are ultimately up to the individual airline.)
Be aware an airline can conclude a PR card is NOT valid on the specific date it expires, so last safe date to depart is, at the very latest, the day before the card expires.
Some Additional Risks:
A major
RISK here is the flight is delayed, and if before you can proceed to board another flight your PR card has expired the airline may deny you a boarding pass, not allowing you to return to Canada on that flight.
No extensive experience flying necessary to recognize flights get delayed, either due to personal reasons (say a car crash on way to the airport) or the flight itself (there are currently two volcanoes poised to potentially interfere with flying from Europe to Canada, for example; one is in Iceland, which is where a volcanic eruption a few years ago delayed a large number of trans-Atlantic flights for weeks).
If for any reason you get stuck outside Canada without a valid PR card (and again, an airline can conclude a card is not valid as of the date it expires), you would need to apply for and obtain a PRTD or be able to travel via the U.S. and approach entry into Canada at a land-border PoE (noting again, to actually
enter Canada you do not need a valid PR card).