Calling it "free healthcare" is misleading in my opinion, as it's funded to an extent by taxpayers and the gov't subsidizes.
Allowances as you describe are referred to as benefits in Canada.
1. If you are living in Canada and have children, you will be eligible for child tax benefits.
2. If you loose your job through no fault of yours(i.e. you were not fired or did not quit your job for the sake of it), then you can apply for employment insurance benefits. This money is deducted from your paycheque regularly. So you will get up to 55% of it based on the number of hours you have worked in the past 12 months. So if you don't work, you can not be eligible for this benefit.
3. if your income is low(below poverty line), you may be eligible for the low income working supplement benefit.
4. another benefit is GST/HST credit - this one depends on your income. You must file taxes(even in your income is zero) to be able to get this benefit.
5. in your retirement years, depending on your income then, you may or may not be eligible for certain benefits.
6. there is also some kind of benefit(I think it's called "isolation allowance/credit/benefit" or so) for people who live and work in places like Yukon, North West Territories, etc. They are generally isolated(food is delivered by helicopter...lol), and it's very very cold up there. lol
I would hope your desire to come to Canada includes being an active participant in the work force not just the benefits. All of us have to contribute to the fund, otherwise it will become empty and our children or grandchildren will have nothing left when their time comes.
