Elvinya

Post by genew;3052886
Hold on this.  I think the key issue is what is your wife's residence status for tax purposes in year 2011.

To determine what was her residence status in year 2011, you need to look at the following:

Residential ties

– These ties include where your home (owned or leased) and personal property are and where your spouse or common-law partner or dependants reside.
Other ties that may be relevant include social ties, driver’s licence, bank accounts or credit cards, and provincial or territorial hospitalization insurance.

If she had maintained most of the ties within Canada, she was probably a factual resident of Canada.

If you have determined that she was a resident of Canada for tax purposes, you may be able to claim both the spouse and chid credits on your return.

You are absolutly right about this. But personaly I believe it can go both ways, because "residence" is no defined in the Act, and its meaning is rather wague.
One thing to consider is that if she is deemed to be a residence of Canada she's required to report her worldwide income. So if she has a business in China for example, she may need to pay tax for the business income she earned. In that case the amount of tax she will be paying may offset the credits. Since we don't have all the information, it's pretty hard to tell which option is better.
It always depends on the situation I guess.
Just my thought...