Retiring in Canada from US

[mauserfan]

Good day,
My wife and I are starting to set ourselves up to retire in Ontario in about 6-8 years. We would like to become Canadian citizens. We will have purchased a home prior to moving. We will have enough saved to fund our retirement as well as collecting social security benefits. We have questions:
1) Will Canada allow this?
2) How will we be taxed on income?
3) How do we handle medical insurances?
4) Will we be taxed on personal items coming in?

I'm sure there will be more but will like to get the ball rolling. Please free to offer up any ideas. Thanks alot . Mauserfan

 

[scylla]

Canada has no retirement visa.

In order to become Canadian citizens you will first have to become permanent residents. To become permanent residents you will have to qualify and apply through one of the programs listed in the link below:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/apply.asp

I would recommend you read through these programs in detail before you make any other plans. There's certainly a chance you won't qualify.

Purchasing a home in Canada will give you no benefits or status in Canada.

 

[amikety]

1) You can't "move" to Canada or permanently live here without status. You can visit for 6 months at a time and apply to renew your stay online, by mail, or at the border. If CIC suspects you're living in Canada rather than visiting, they may reject your status and ask you to leave. You'll need to immigrate to live in Canada permanently.

2) If you are in Canada for more than 183 days, you're considered a tax resident and need to file.

3) You'll have to buy your own. As far as I know, Medicare isn't accepted by any Canadian doctors.

4) This question isn't necessary because you won't get across the border with an excess of personal things as a visitor.

Before you can become citizens, you need to become permanent residents. This self assesment might help you identify your options:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/ctc-vac/cometocanada.asp

 

[Leon]

As others have said, Canada has no immigration class for retirees. If you want to immigrate, you need to qualify as a skilled worker in some form. You can do it by getting a job offer and apply for your immigration from the US or you can do it by getting a work permit in Canada and applying after you start working. You may therefore want to plan differently, not just to retire in Canada but to spend your last working years in Canada.

If you gain permanent residency, you will need to stay in Canada at least 730 days in any 5 year period in order to keep it. As a PR and being resident in some province, you will be eligible for health care. You need to stay in a province at least 6 months a year in order to keep your health care. After 3 years in Canada as a PR, you can apply for citizenship.

As for staying in Canada without immigrating, you can do that as a seasonal resident up to 6 months a year. Your status would be visitor and you will not get health care and you are not allowed to work. When arriving, it is always possible in such cases that immigration officers get suspicious of your motives and they are allowed to hassle you or even deny you entry if they want to.

As a US citizen, you are obligated to file for tax in the US no matter where you are living. If you reside in Canada more than 6 months a year and in some cases also if you don't as long as you have a home in Canada, you are also obligated to file in Canada. The US and Canada have a tax treaty so it will likely not cost you double the tax even if you file in both countries.

 

[mauserfan]

Thank you for the information. If I take a job in Canada, how long do I need to work before I will be able to retire and become a citizen? Thanks again. Mauser

 

[scylla]

Taking a job does not qualify you for citizenship directly.

The Canadian Experience Class immigration stream would likely be the best way to qualify if you're able to secure a job in Canada. First you would need to complete one year of full time work in Canada in a skilled profession. Once you complete a year of work, you would qualify to apply for PR through CEC. Once you have the one year of experience in Canada I believe you could stop working.

I think the processing time for CEC applications is around a year to a year and a half. Once you have PR, it will take another two years minimum (more depending on how much time you spend outside of Canada) to qualify for citizenship. Citizenship takes around 2 years to process once you submit the application (assuming there are no issues with your file).

 

[Leon]

If you apply for PR through CEC, you could stop working after you apply, however, you need to keep your status legal in Canada if you want to stay. Having applied for PR doesn't give you any status until you get it so if you were to quit the job, you can legally stay only until your work permit expires which might possibly be long enough to get your PR depending on how long your work permit was. If your work permit ends up expiring and you don't have a job any more and no basis to apply for a new permit, you would have to go back to the US but good news if you apply through CEC, your application continues to process and you can still get your PR even if you leave.

Look into if your occupation falls under NAFTA. It would make it a lot easier for you to get a work permit. You can see NAFTA occupations here: http://www.canadavisa.com/nafta-temporary-work-permit-canada.html

 

[mauserfan]

Just an update here as follows;
1) Will be retiring in about 6 years and would like to live in Canada as this is where I have a lot of relatives and it's where we recreate. 2) We would NOT need to become citizens( would/could remain US Citizens) nor participate in the Canadian Medical System.
3) I believe that we are financially set to be independent of any assistance.
4) With this said-how much time could we spend in Canada annually?

Thank you for your assistance.

 

[Leon]

Just an update here as follows;
1) Will be retiring in about 6 years and would like to live in Canada as this is where I have a lot of relatives and it's where we recreate. 2) We would NOT need to become citizens( would/could remain US Citizens) nor participate in the Canadian Medical System.
3) I believe that we are financially set to be independent of any assistance.
4) With this said-how much time could we spend in Canada annually?

Thank you for your assistance.

As a US citizen, you can visit and spend up to 6 months a year in Canada.

 

[mpottier]

Just another reason Canada and the USA need a trans-tasman style agreement. This is so silly.

 

[Rob_TO]

Just an update here as follows;
1) Will be retiring in about 6 years and would like to live in Canada as this is where I have a lot of relatives and it's where we recreate. 2) We would NOT need to become citizens( would/could remain US Citizens) nor participate in the Canadian Medical System.
3) I believe that we are financially set to be independent of any assistance.
4) With this said-how much time could we spend in Canada annually?

Thank you for your assistance.

Once a US citizen is in Canada (most likely with 6 months status given by CBSA), they can apply to CIC to request an extension on their visitor status as it comes due. So in reality one could "visit" Canada for many years straight as long as their visitor extension keeps getting extended by CIC.

Alternatively, CIC could reject an extension and they would be forced to leave Canada.
Or upon any attempt to enter Canada, at the border if CBSA thinks you are trying to "live" here permanently, they could simply reject your entry and turn you back to the US.

Long story short, without PR status you can't retire in Canada on any permanent basis. You can only visit, and need to maintain a residence in the US as well. Each time you visit, whether you are allowed to enter and how much time you get status for, will be at the discretion of the CBSA officer you talk to.

 

[mauserfan]

Very good. Thank you for the information. Mauser