Canadian citizen moving back to Canada after 25 years

[alaamasri89]

Hello all,

My sister's husband is a Canadian citizen that moved from Canada to his home country Lebanon (country in Middle East) almost 25 years ago. Lebanon now is really passing through bad times (a revolution is happening and the economical situation is very risky) and returning to Canada would be the best thing to do now but unfortunately he doesn't know anyone there and he is just not sure how he can settle in especially he doesn't have any money saved and he has two young children (3 and 6 years old) so he can't risk going there without having the means to support his family beforehand. Is there any way that the Canadian government could assist him in returning to Canada ?

Thank you

 

[k.h.p.]

No, not really.

 

[21Goose]

As a citizen he has the right to return. However, there are no special programs to help him, beyond what is available to all citizens/PRs - childcare, welfare, etc.

Things like this - https://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/en/mcss/programs/social/ow/index.aspx

He will probably not be eligible for anything to begin with, since he won't have tax returns etc. You can try calling the various government agencies and asking, but don't expect anything much.

If he is serious about coming back, he would need to have some money to pay for basic needs, and immediately start looking for a job. As a citizen he can work anywhere and depending on his skills/education he may be able to find work. Here's another resource for Ontario

https://www.ontario.ca/page/jobs-and-employment

It's not going to be easy, but it's certainly not impossible. You can Google for information about the other provinces in case he doesn't want to come to Ontario.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hello all,

My sister's husband is a Canadian citizen that moved from Canada to his home country Lebanon (country in Middle East) almost 25 years ago. Lebanon now is really passing through bad times (a revolution is happening and the economical situation is very risky) and returning to Canada would be the best thing to do now but unfortunately he doesn't know anyone there and he is just not sure how he can settle in especially he doesn't have any money saved and he has two young children (3 and 6 years old) so he can't risk going there without having the means to support his family beforehand. Is there any way that the Canadian government could assist him in returning to Canada ?

Thank you

No, the Canadian government can't help him return.

Do the kids have their Canadian passports? Is your sister Canadian?

 

[alaamasri89]

@21Goose That's what I thought too but considering Lebanon's situation which is considered an emergency (https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/lebanon) I thought the government would act to keep it's citizens safe and prosperous.

@canuck_in_uk Yes, the kids have passports. My sister is not Canadian.

 

[k.h.p.]

@21Goose That's what I thought too but considering Lebanon's situation which is considered an emergency (https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/lebanon) I thought the government would act to keep it's citizens safe and prosperous.

@canuck_in_uk Yes, the kids have passports. My sister is not Canadian.

The government will occasionally evacuate Canadians from active war zones. However, if Canadian citizens choose to live outside Canada the government has no program to keep people "prosperous" in other countries. It doesn't even have a program like that for Canadians in Canada.

 

[Copingwithlife]

@21Goose That's what I thought too but considering Lebanon's situation which is considered an emergency (https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/lebanon) I thought the government would act to keep it's citizens safe and prosperous.

@canuck_in_uk Yes, the kids have passports. My sister is not Canadian.

I don’t know if you remember this situation , back in 2006
The government won’t get involved, they already did once
I remember the voting public wasn’t pleased


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadians_of_convenience

 

[canuck_in_uk]

@21Goose That's what I thought too but considering Lebanon's situation which is considered an emergency (https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/lebanon) I thought the government would act to keep it's citizens safe and prosperous.

@canuck_in_uk Yes, the kids have passports. My sister is not Canadian.

Is she a PR? If not, does she already have a TRV? If not, she has little chance of approval.

 

[canuck78]

The husband should consider moving to Canada and making some money before his family resettled. He also has to sponsor his wife which will take around a year and he’ll need to show he can support his family.

 

[despacito2017]

@21Goose That's what I thought too but considering Lebanon's situation which is considered an emergency (https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/lebanon) I thought the government would act to keep it's citizens safe and prosperous.

@canuck_in_uk Yes, the kids have passports. My sister is not Canadian.

No country in the world has a scheme in which they pay to repatriate and fund the lifestyles of returning citizens who choose through their own free will to live in another country and not contribute taxes to their tax base.

All the Canadian government can do is evacuate a citizen in the event there is a war. The evacuation doesn’t have to be all the way to Canada either and can be to the nearest safe harbor where it would be up to the person to execute the next steps. There were many governments during the last major conflict who brought people to Cyprus and then let them individually decide what they wanted to do onwards.

Of the 15,000 Lebanese evacuated in the last conflict, about 7,000 returned to Lebanon within a month of being evacuated.

 

[alaamasri89]

I never meant that the government should give money to citizens to make them rich (I'm not that naive) but I meant like helping a citizen to return by helping finding a job opportunity or maybe like a loan or any kind of assistance.

 

[k.h.p.]

I never meant that the government should give money to citizens to make them rich (I'm not that naive) but I meant like helping a citizen to return by helping finding a job opportunity or maybe like a loan or any kind of assistance.

They don't do it.

 

[21Goose]

I never meant that the government should give money to citizens to make them rich (I'm not that naive) but I meant like helping a citizen to return by helping finding a job opportunity or maybe like a loan or any kind of assistance.

Again, there are various programs to help Canadians - job assistance, welfare, childcare and so on. However, there is no special program for people trying to leave Lebanon, and to qualify for most government programs you need to meet criteria such as showing your tax returns. You should try calling up the government agencies in the province that you are looking to move to, and ask what programs you may qualify for.

It may well be that there is no assistance available for a few months at least, so it would be best to have savings/get any job to support your basic needs.

In addition there are relief groups and charities that may be able to help in some form. Many of these are religiously affiliated - to a church, mosque, temple. If you practice a certain religion, you can try looking within that group to see if there's anything that can help. There are non-religious groups as well.

There's lots of help and resources out there, just don't assume that the Canadian government is going to give you a job/money the minute you show up in Canada.

 

[despacito2017]

I never meant that the government should give money to citizens to make them rich (I'm not that naive) but I meant like helping a citizen to return by helping finding a job opportunity or maybe like a loan or any kind of assistance.

In short there is no such government program.

In general, the relationship between a government and a citizen goes two ways. The citizen contributes taxes and in return the government provides limited assistance if the person or family falls below a certain income threshold. Assistance programs on both a provincial and federal level require that a person be a resident (physically present) for a certain time before they qualify. They may even require the latest tax return to show that a person falls below a certain income level.

As someone has rightfully pointed out, you might want to consider reaching out to relief groups and charities who do this type of assistance. There are many community organisations of Lebanese expats in Canada that may be able to help.

 

[canuck78]

Although the Lebanese economy is bad and there have been some protests I wouldn’t say that it is more dangerous to live there than usual especially if you are actually Lebanese. In the past 25 years there has been much more dangerous periods. Perhaps the Canadian government already paid to evacuate their family once when war broke out during the Harper area. Given that your sister’s husband has not lived or worked in Canada for 25 years it seems very unreasonable for him to want the Canadian government to bring him back to Canada. Honestly family members may have to loan him money to get back to Canada. His wife is unlikely to get a TRV so he has to sponsor her which takes money and must prove he can support his family. Are you in Canada? If so, hopefully you can loan him money to come back to Canada to start working, saving money and sponsoring his wife. He could start the sponsorship process now but without any funds he should prioritize getting back to Canada and getting a job first. Does he have family to stay with in Canada? Unfortunately when times are tough you have to make some tough decisions like the father going to Canada first to get a job and save up enough money for the rest of the family to arrive. If he receives welfare he can’t sponsor his wife.