My wife and I wish to retire/emigrate to Nova Scotia, Canada

[bartbonbrown]

If this is confusing, or is posted in the wrong forum, my apologies in advance.

From what I've read, the Canadian government is not particularly welcoming to retired Americans, apparently in the belief that American retirees are interested only in Canada's nationalized health services. That is not the case with my wife and myself. When my wife retires in two years, here's our financial situation:

From various pensions, 401Ks, and Social Security, when we both retire, we will have a combined retirement income of at minimum $US5200 ($CAN7000)/month, or $US62,400 ($CAN83,000)/year.

We have health insurance through United Health Care and the US Medicare system, which we pay for. As it will take us some time to achieve full Canadian citizenship, I don't know how our health insurance would work out in Canada.

I've been trying to find information on what I've heard termed a "Canadian Heritage" path to citizenship: my maternal grandfather, John Patrick Higgins, was born on March 2, 1865 in St. Anicet, Quebec. My maternal grandmother, Margaret Wallace, was a British Home Child, born in the poorhouse in Dundee 1st District, Angus, Scotland, June 4th, 1882. Her mother, Isabel Wallace, died of tuberculosis in the Dundee East Poorhouse at the age of 24 on April 1, 1889, and my grandmother, Margaret Wallace, six years of age, was taken to the Nottingshill, QHS (Quarriers Homes of Scotland, Bridge of Weir, near Glasgow), on January 28, 1889.

On May 30th, 1889, my grandmother Margaret Wallace, boarded the S. S.
Siberian, a steamship of the Allan Line, and left for Canada with a group of about 84
orphan girls listed on the ships manifest as “Mr. Quarrier’s Children.” They first went to
Brockville, Ontario, Canada to be housed in one of Miss MacPherson’s “distributing
homes” called “Fairknowe,” where they waited to be accepted by prospective foster
parents. Margaret was sent to live as a domestic with the Moore family in Trout River, Quebec, near the border with the US, soon after arriving in Brockville.

My maternal grandfather, John Patrick Higgins, and my maternal grandmother, Margaret Wallace, were married on November 21, 1917 in the chapel at Valleyfield, in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec. Their second child, Mary, was my mother. She was born on May 13, 1922 in Trout River, NY, just over the border from Trout River, Quebec.

(I have all certified birth, marriage and death records)

Any info greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Bart

 

[marcher]

Hi Bart. You are posting the thread in the right forum. However, just a small advice I want to give you. Do not share a lot of personal details such as names and dates. This is a public forum, and you never know what one might use such information for. Sorry I cannot provide answers to your questions, but one thing I can assure you about Nova Scotia is that it is a beautiful province, but has high taxes and food prices.

 

[imran01]

if this is the case.. please remove his post from your post..and let him edit his original post.. for little anonymous.
thanks.

 

[bartbonbrown]

I'm sorry, I forgot to add this information: When we sell our house in Connecticut, US, we will realize a profit of a minimum of $US200,000 ($CAN267,000)

Thanks,

Bart

I'm not sure about the warnings about names and dates (though I heartily approve of imran01's advice about not including the whole of my original post in a reply -- department of redundancy department!).

As all the people of whom I was writing are long dead, what is the danger of posting details? I have the official copy of all relevant documents, but I'll take out the names if wiser heads think I should... HOWEVER, I haven't figured a way to edit my posts once they've been posted. I tried to remove the post's content to add the CT house value info, but the forum rules wouldn't let me. Is there a way around that?

Many thanks for your assistance!

Bart

 

[canuck_in_uk]

From what I've read, the Canadian government is not particularly welcoming to retired Americans, apparently in the belief that American retirees are interested only in Canada's nationalized health services. That is not the case with my wife and myself. When my wife retires in two years, here's our financial situation:

We have health insurance through United Health Care and the US Medicare system, which we pay for. As it will take us some time to achieve full Canadian citizenship, I don't know how our health insurance would work out in Canada.

It doesn't matter how much money or what health coverage you will have. All PRs residing in Canada have the right to healthcare, so stating that you won't use it means nothing. There really is no path for retirees to immigrate to Canada except if they have a Canadian citizen/PR child to sponsor them.

In regards to potential citizenship, start with the tool here http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/rules/.

 

[marcher]

Hi again Bart,
I did a quick search on CIC website, and based on the information you provided, your mother was eligible for Canadian (probably also British) citizenships, but she did not apply for either, so she was basically just American. Unfortunately based on what the website says, you are eligible for Canadian citizenship based on your parents' status not grandparents.
I recommend reading the Citizenship Act too since it provides a detailed insight of who is Canadian:
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-29/page-1.html#h-3

The alternative approach could be one of the various permanent residency routes such as the Immigrant Investor Program (suspended at the moment), start-up vis ..etc:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/index.asp

As mentioned by canuck_in_uk, Canada does not grant conditional residency upon usage of health system; once you are a PR or citizen, you have full access to the health system like everyone else. In other words, your present medical coverage will not give you any advantage in becoming a PR in Canada.

I hope this helps.

 

[bartbonbrown]

Marcher -- Many thanks for the info!

Bart

 

[alphazip]

Just to be clear about something, you say you mother was born over the border in New York. Immediately after her birth, did she go to live in Canada or remain in the U.S. If she went to Canada, what years did she live there?

 

[heeradeepak]

If this is confusing, or is posted in the wrong forum, my apologies in advance.

From what I've read, the Canadian government is not particularly welcoming to retired Americans, apparently in the belief that American retirees are interested only in Canada's nationalized health services. That is not the case with my wife and myself. When my wife retires in two years, here's our financial situation:

From various pensions, 401Ks, and Social Security, when we both retire, we will have a combined retirement income of at minimum $US5200 ($CAN7000)/month, or $US62,400 ($CAN83,000)/year.

We have health insurance through United Health Care and the US Medicare system, which we pay for. As it will take us some time to achieve full Canadian citizenship, I don't know how our health insurance would work out in Canada.

I've been trying to find information on what I've heard termed a "Canadian Heritage" path to citizenship: my maternal grandfather, John Patrick Higgins, was born on March 2, 1865 in St. Anicet, Quebec. My maternal grandmother, Margaret Wallace, was a British Home Child, born in the poorhouse in Dundee 1st District, Angus, Scotland, June 4th, 1882. Her mother, Isabel Wallace, died of tuberculosis in the Dundee East Poorhouse at the age of 24 on April 1, 1889, and my grandmother, Margaret Wallace, six years of age, was taken to the Nottingshill, QHS (Quarriers Homes of Scotland, Bridge of Weir, near Glasgow), on January 28, 1889.

On May 30th, 1889, my grandmother Margaret Wallace, boarded the S. S.
Siberian, a steamship of the Allan Line, and left for Canada with a group of about 84
orphan girls listed on the ships manifest as “Mr. Quarrier’s Children.” They first went to
Brockville, Ontario, Canada to be housed in one of Miss MacPherson’s “distributing
homes” called “Fairknowe,” where they waited to be accepted by prospective foster
parents. Margaret was sent to live as a domestic with the Moore family in Trout River, Quebec, near the border with the US, soon after arriving in Brockville.

My maternal grandfather, John Patrick Higgins, and my maternal grandmother, Margaret Wallace, were married on November 21, 1917 in the chapel at Valleyfield, in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec. Their second child, Mary, was my mother. She was born on May 13, 1922 in Trout River, NY, just over the border from Trout River, Quebec.

(I have all certified birth, marriage and death records)

Any info greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Bart

Good story

 

[itsmyid]

Hi again Bart,
I did a quick search on CIC website, and based on the information you provided, your mother was eligible for Canadian (probably also British) citizenships, but she did not apply for either, so she was basically just American. Unfortunately based on what the website says, you are eligible for Canadian citizenship based on your parents' status not grandparents.
I recommend reading the Citizenship Act too since it provides a detailed insight of who is Canadian:
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-29/page-1.html#h-3

The alternative approach could be one of the various permanent residency routes such as the Immigrant Investor Program (suspended at the moment), start-up vis ..etc:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/index.asp

As mentioned by canuck_in_uk, Canada does not grant conditional residency upon usage of health system; once you are a PR or citizen, you have full access to the health system like everyone else. In other words, your present medical coverage will not give you any advantage in becoming a PR in Canada.

I hope this helps.

I don't think the investor program is viable even if it weren't suspended: basically the OP will have to put his retirement saving on the line , and it is a risk I wouldn't take if I were him

 

[dpenabill]

From what I've read, the Canadian government is not particularly welcoming to retired Americans, apparently in the belief that American retirees are interested only in Canada's nationalized health services.

The only path to becoming a Canadian citizen is to first become a Permanent Resident, and then apply for a grant of citizenship.

Otherwise, a person must be a citizen by circumstance of birth, which means born in Canada, or born to a parent who was, at the time of birth, a Canadian citizen, subject to some additional requirements.

You may do further research to ascertain if your mother was a Canadian citizen at the time you were born, and while probably not, if she was, then you can further ascertain whether you too are a citizen by birth.

None of that would have anything to do with the fact you are an American.



Obtaining grant of Canadian citizenship:

To obtain a grant of Canadian citizenship, a person must first be a Permanent Resident, and then as a PR meet the requirements for the grant of citizenship.

The hard part is qualifying to become a Permanent Resident.

In this regard, I am not sure what you mean by "not particularly welcoming to retired Americans."

If you are referring to Canada not having an immigration path for retirees, that is indeed the case, be they from the U.S. or elsewhere in the world.

There is no immigration class for retirees.

There is no particular bias against Americans in this regard . . . basically the same rules apply to all foreign nationals (all non-Canadians), American and otherwise.

Has nothing to do with health care per se. It has to do with who Canada has programs for facilitating immigration to Canada. Other than family unification programs (mostly about sponsoring spouses and dependent children; some limited sponsorship of parents or grandparents), the classes of immigration are essentially employment-related economic classes . . . to bring people to Canada who will add to the work force or otherwise be active contributors (thus more than just an investor) in the economy (thus, for example, world class artists, writers, athletes, and such, have a path to immigrate to Canada, in addition to the paths provided for certain skilled workers and professionals).

There is no immigration program open to Americans apart from the programs available to any and all other foreign nationals.

That said, Americans do have some advantages.

For example, for now NAFTA facilitates an easier path for many Americans to temporary work status in Canada, and this then can be leveraged toward qualifying for Express Entry via the Canadian Experience Class.

Another big advantage is that Americans can be seasonal residents, which allows an American to spend up to six months at a time in Canada. And upon establishing a seasonal residence in Canada, the American can import household goods and furnishings much like an immigrant could, except with the caveat that the American will remove such items from Canada if and when the American ceases to maintain the seasonal/secondary residence in Canada (practically unenforced).

Unlike the United States, which imposes a relatively firm (albeit not uniformly enforced) six months per calendar year limit on Canadians with seasonal/secondary residences in the States, so far Canada does not impose a strict six month per year limit, just a six month per entry limit, on Americans with seasonal/secondary residences in Canada. That said, of course the American must nonetheless maintain a primary residence in the States, and could be subject to elevated scrutiny about this if spending more than six months per year in Canada. (There are respective taxation considerations in play as well.)


In any event, it is not true that Canada is not particularly welcoming to American retirees, at least not so to any extent beyond generally enforcing its immigration policies against any and all others in the world.

(By the way, I am an American citizen who came to live in Canada relatively late in life (first came here, however, well more than a half century ago) and have subsequently become a Canadian citizen; in my case there was a woman to blame, to whom I am deeply indebted and grateful for much more than marrying and sponsoring me, but it was indeed her sponsorship which allowed me to get off the flagpoling rigmarole of being a seasonal resident too often pushing the envelope of a border-straddling lifestyle, long enough ago it now seems like almost another lifetime.)



Regarding investor class: this is a very limited pilot program. As already noted it is currently closed or suspended. It requires a minimum net worth of $10 Million Canadian as acquired through private sector business or investment activities, verified by an entity in a very select group (KPMG LLP or PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) LLP for example), and NOT counting value of primary residence or amounts obtained by inheritance, and it requires an at-risk venture investment of at least $2 million Canadian. As itsmyid indicates, does not appear to be a viable approach here, no where close.

 

[Almost_Canadian]

Hi Dpenabill
Not to argue a fine point, but there are exceptions to your statement " The only path to becoming a Canadian Citizen is to first become a
Permanent Resident, and then apply for citizenship.

There are exceptional circumstances where a grant of citizenship may be made without having fulfilled the condition of being a permanent resident. The most recent case I can think of is Malala Yusufsai who was granted Canadian citizenship.

But yes, for the rest of us normal folks, your statement applies is full.

 

[dpenabill]

Hi Dpenabill
Not to argue a fine point, but there are exceptions to your statement " The only path to becoming a Canadian Citizen is to first become a
Permanent Resident, and then apply for citizenship.

There are exceptional circumstances where a grant of citizenship may be made without having fulfilled the condition of being a permanent resident. The most recent case I can think of is Malala Yusufsai who was granted Canadian citizenship.

But yes, for the rest of us normal folks, your statement applies is full.

That is correct. The Minister does indeed have special power to confer citizenship apart from the statutory grant process. Occasionally this is done for certain athletes or in other very special circumstances. Malala Yusufsai being a salient but nonetheless representative example illustrating how unusual, how rare this is.

However, to say this is highly unusual, a very rare exception, is a huge understatement.

Which is to say, PR status is not just the only (practically available) path for normal folks, but the only path for even those who stand well apart and, one might say, well above the rest of us . . . again, acknowledging the Minister's very rarely exercised authority otherwise.

For even the best world class athletes, artists, film stars, and writers, and so on, what they have is a much easier path to PR status itself, which ultimately makes it easier to become a Canadian citizen, but even they (with very rare exceptions) must go through the process of becoming a PR first.


The more salient and pertinent observation, in reference to the query here is that, in Canada, Americans are foreign nationals, what many Americans would call "foreigners" or even "aliens." Americans have no special status in Canada. Which some Americans seem to find surprising.

 

[washington.state]

If this is confusing, or is posted in the wrong forum, my apologies in advance.

From what I've read, the Canadian government is not particularly welcoming to retired Americans, apparently in the belief that American retirees are interested only in Canada's nationalized health services. That is not the case with my wife and myself. When my wife retires in two years, here's our financial situation:

From various pensions, 401Ks, and Social Security, when we both retire, we will have a combined retirement income of at minimum $US5200 ($CAN7000)/month, or $US62,400 ($CAN83,000)/year.

We have health insurance through United Health Care and the US Medicare system, which we pay for. As it will take us some time to achieve full Canadian citizenship, I don't know how our health insurance would work out in Canada.

I've been trying to find information on what I've heard termed a "Canadian Heritage" path to citizenship: my maternal grandfather, John Patrick Higgins, was born on March 2, 1865 in St. Anicet, Quebec. My maternal grandmother, Margaret Wallace, was a British Home Child, born in the poorhouse in Dundee 1st District, Angus, Scotland, June 4th, 1882. Her mother, Isabel Wallace, died of tuberculosis in the Dundee East Poorhouse at the age of 24 on April 1, 1889, and my grandmother, Margaret Wallace, six years of age, was taken to the Nottingshill, QHS (Quarriers Homes of Scotland, Bridge of Weir, near Glasgow), on January 28, 1889.

On May 30th, 1889, my grandmother Margaret Wallace, boarded the S. S.
Siberian, a steamship of the Allan Line, and left for Canada with a group of about 84
orphan girls listed on the ships manifest as “Mr. Quarrier’s Children.” They first went to
Brockville, Ontario, Canada to be housed in one of Miss MacPherson’s “distributing
homes” called “Fairknowe,” where they waited to be accepted by prospective foster
parents. Margaret was sent to live as a domestic with the Moore family in Trout River, Quebec, near the border with the US, soon after arriving in Brockville.

My maternal grandfather, John Patrick Higgins, and my maternal grandmother, Margaret Wallace, were married on November 21, 1917 in the chapel at Valleyfield, in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec. Their second child, Mary, was my mother. She was born on May 13, 1922 in Trout River, NY, just over the border from Trout River, Quebec.

(I have all certified birth, marriage and death records)

Any info greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Bart

If you have all genuine papers and immigration records, see David Cohen immediately.

 

[alphazip]

Good story

Yes, but I'm waiting for the OP to provide the ending to the story, so we can see if he still has any claim to citizenship by descent.

Perhaps the mother was just born on the other side of the border because that's where the nearest hospital was located. Because she was born to a British subject father, she would have been a British subject herself (in addition to being a U.S. citizen). If she returned to Canada and lived here for at least 20 years immediately before January 1, 1947, she would have become a Canadian citizen on that date. If so, the OP would likely have a claim to citizenship by descent.