Author Topic: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US  (Read 999 times)

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Sleazy

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Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« on: July 06, 2022, 09:22:19 AM »
My wife and I are thinking about moving our family to Canada and planning a trip to visit some cities in about a month. I was hoping the slap community could help share some insights. Below I've shared a bit about our motivation and lifestyle to give context to anyone who is generous enough to share some insights.

Motivation
we are getting frustrated with the overall trajectory of the country especially with things like violent crime. we the recent changes in the supreme court and political climate will take a generation or more to correct and we feel that if we stay here someone we are close to will eventually be a victim of gun violence. we've kind of given up on the political system at this point as it feels broken and neither party is appealing to us so no matter who wins we fear we will loose in the long run. the extremes are killing it for us. our kids being just before high school we feel now is the time to move if we ever move as we would still have a chance of resettling the whole family and not having all our kids move away right after high school.

Current Life Style
I own and run a software company in Austin which allows me great flexibly on my time as I work from home and lifestyle as it's a decently successful company. We currently live close to downtown Austin in the hills with lots of animals, we have a bunch of chickens, several little gardens, etc... Our neighborhood is full of wildlife, like deers, foxes, etc... and there are lots of hiking trails with nice creeks and cliffs and all that. My wife likes to paddle board and take care of animals, plants and kids. I'm into obviously into skateboarding but also mountain biking and pretty much board type sports (surfing, snowboarding, wake boarding, ect...). Our kids are really into surfing and snowboarding, neither we get to do too often. We also home school because of the shit combination of liberal and conservative politics in Austin. You get the worst of both worlds here and the schools are terrible with no discipline and bullying from the liberal side but then you have to worry about your kids getting shot up from the republican side and everything is watered down again thanks to the republicans. we own a beach house so we spend about 1/3 of our time at the beach on the gulf coast. I run my business from home and the whole family hangs out most days working together and then playing and cooking together. We like a nice meal but also enjoy cooking at home. Really having fun casual places for the family, a few healthy good options for food and few epic date spots would hit it for us.

Síota

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2022, 10:16:15 AM »
Vancouver Island sounds a perfect fit. I used to live there and skate/surf/snowboard. There is plenty of nice small towns that are not too stupidly expensive compared to Victoria or Vancouver on the mainland. Tofino would be my dream if I ever moved back but I'd probably go to Cumberland.

j....soy.....

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2022, 08:19:25 PM »
I agree the island would be a good fit…(Victoria?) .or on the mainland Squamish.  North Vancouver if you wanted to be near the city but it’s pricey.  There might be some good spots in the outskirts of Calgary too….but I’m not too familiar with it.  BC interior weird me out because of the forest fires….

The one thing I can say is that it’s very easy for myself at least to go days without thinking of politics, or it even coming up.  The presence of guns is quite limited as well. It’s a lot less extreme here and right or wrong I don’t think the inequities are as politicized as the US.

  I think you need to be sure that these things bothering you are enough of a reason to leave….because I think Canada can be very boring, and there are not many great options because there are so few cities…..

pointandclick

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2022, 09:45:06 PM »
outskirts of calgary would be great. we have everything except the ocean. mountains, plains, rivers, lakes, badlands, forests, wildlife.
similar kind of attitude to austin, maybe a bit more conservative but were getting there.

j....soy.....

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2022, 08:40:39 AM »
Isn’t kananaskis like an hour outside Calgary?  I just figured there might be something ok in between or around there….

Alan

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #5 on: July 07, 2022, 08:56:37 AM »
Vancouver Island sounds a perfect fit. I used to live there and skate/surf/snowboard. There is plenty of nice small towns that are not too stupidly expensive compared to Victoria or Vancouver on the mainland. Tofino would be my dream if I ever moved back but I'd probably go to Cumberland.

I'm not so sure about affordability. I keep hearing stories about locals being priced out of renting, let alone buying, even in other parts of the island.
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j....soy.....

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #6 on: July 07, 2022, 01:23:46 PM »
It’s pricier than I thought.  Retirement money I surmise…..

Síota

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #7 on: July 08, 2022, 12:13:58 AM »
Yeah I haven't lived in Canada since 2004 to be honest and my mate who I stay with on the Island is a miner and makes very good cash. I have been told over the last few years house prices in Canada have gone mental all over, like my ex's house she bought for 300k is now worth over a million etc.
Still the small towns have to be cheaper than Victoria or Vancouver, and less meth-heads.

Skatebeard

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #8 on: July 08, 2022, 04:55:45 AM »
Victoria is the place, I live in the UK but my mum's Canadian and we have family there - If I was ever to emigrate, it's absolutely where I would be looking to move.

Funny enough she's over there literally right now visiting her brother, I haven't been over for about 10 years but i doubt it's changed much for the worse...beautiful town and the island has plenty to explore.

Chris

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #9 on: July 08, 2022, 10:00:13 AM »
Agreeing with everyone else in that somewhere on Vancouver Island sounds like a good fit considering what you’ve listed down. Prices in the lower mainland have gone up everywhere starting in Vancouver and has spread into the interior(people living in Vancouver or smaller surrounding areas being priced out) and the island which is brutal but is the unfortunate reality. You have good trails for hiking or mountain biking, skateboarding is good as there’s usually a decent concrete park even in smaller areas, surfing is accessible in certain areas, lakes, rivers, wildlife, etc. It’ll meet a lot of the criteria you kind of have listed.


I have some friends that have made the move to the island and they love it there, not as busy and get to take in and use the differing terrain and landscapes without huge line ups or no parking.

I would say if you’re here for a month check out the island for sure and see if you find a good place to fit and maybe Vancouver and Squamish if you have the chance.

Sleazy

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #10 on: July 08, 2022, 06:55:38 PM »
The community I’ve run with the longest is still the best. Thanks so much everyone for the insights!

If you were going to fly out of Vancouver how much time does being on the island add? Probably need to pop over to ATX monthly for a bit. Vancouver has 4 hour direct flights which was appealing. I’m guessing it’d add 1-2 hours.

j....soy.....

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #11 on: July 08, 2022, 08:45:45 PM »
This in theory isn’t a big deal ie it’s a two hour ferry ride, then 40 minute drive to airport, but the whole ordeal is the equivalent  of going to two different airports…..it will suck the life out of you.  The island has an airport too and I don’t think much will to ATX direct anyhow.  I’d check to see what the routes look like. 

I’d look harder at Squamish or Vancouver, the ferries drive most people on the island insane.  There’s smaller gulf islands too where the ferries are a bit less travelled, they are pretty remote though. 

Sativa Lung

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2022, 10:13:53 PM »
You may want to look at what moving to Canada (legally) actually entails. You can't just show up and go "ok we like this town, we're moving here."  I don't see anything about steps you've actually taken beyond brainstorming cities. Getting a PR card isn't that simple, and moving a whole family is even more of a challenge.

You typically need to have a job (with a Canadian based company) offer to really have a chance at realistically doing it, so the first thing you'll want to do is start applying for them. You'll need to show that you have adequate liquid cash reserves for all family members, which was like 25k per when I looked into it. Theres multiple immigration programs, so you'll need to know which one you're applying for and what the individual requirements are, and then you to go through the actual application process which takes years if you're not in the express program. For self employed people the current processing time is 42 months. I would make sure all of those things are in place before I started picking a city, and even then your new employer is likely going to require you to live in the local area even if you're primarily working remotely.

Not trying to crush your dreams, but if you want to just drive across the border and settle somewhere else ASAP I'd look south rather than north.

Síota

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #13 on: July 09, 2022, 07:03:25 AM »
I recommend taking the ferry one way and the harbour air another, the little prop planes that take off from the harbour in Victoria and Vancouver. Absolutely worth every penny and this is coming from someone who absolutely hates flying. On the ferry I seen pods of Orca's every time.
I'd rent a car to travel around the Island when you get there.

Sleazy

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #14 on: July 09, 2022, 08:08:43 AM »
You may want to look at what moving to Canada (legally) actually entails. You can't just show up and go "ok we like this town, we're moving here."  I don't see anything about steps you've actually taken beyond brainstorming cities. Getting a PR card isn't that simple, and moving a whole family is even more of a challenge.

You typically need to have a job (with a Canadian based company) offer to really have a chance at realistically doing it, so the first thing you'll want to do is start applying for them. You'll need to show that you have adequate liquid cash reserves for all family members, which was like 25k per when I looked into it. Theres multiple immigration programs, so you'll need to know which one you're applying for and what the individual requirements are, and then you to go through the actual application process which takes years if you're not in the express program. For self employed people the current processing time is 42 months. I would make sure all of those things are in place before I started picking a city, and even then your new employer is likely going to require you to live in the local area even if you're primarily working remotely.

Not trying to crush your dreams, but if you want to just drive across the border and settle somewhere else ASAP I'd look south rather than north.

i own a company so shutting down my company and getting a job would be a non-starter for me if that was the only option. i was planning to get an immigration attorney once we figured out if there was any areas that were interesting enough for us to want to put a serious effort (time and money) into exploring it. probably be after we make a trip up there which we were thinking about doing later this summer. why waste money if your not into it...

i was planning to talking to an attorney about expanding my company to canada and opening an office there. there would be plenty of business justification to make that work with my partner. i'm assuming there are tons of business that operate in canada but aren't based there. if facebook wanted to open an office in canada, i'm guessing they could. same idea, smaller scale. i might need to hire a canadian to establish the office but that would actually be appealing as it would open up that labor market to us.

doyle

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #15 on: July 09, 2022, 09:09:30 AM »
The community I’ve run with the longest is still the best. Thanks so much everyone for the insights!

If you were going to fly out of Vancouver how much time does being on the island add? Probably need to pop over to ATX monthly for a bit. Vancouver has 4 hour direct flights which was appealing. I’m guessing it’d add 1-2 hours.

My folks live in Victoria and fly lots - depending on the flights they seem to usually fly through Vancouver via Victoria airport, rather than talking the ferry or seaplane to Vancouver (bit of a pain but the flight's like 25 min).

Sativa Lung

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #16 on: July 09, 2022, 03:52:20 PM »
Expand Quote
You may want to look at what moving to Canada (legally) actually entails. You can't just show up and go "ok we like this town, we're moving here."  I don't see anything about steps you've actually taken beyond brainstorming cities. Getting a PR card isn't that simple, and moving a whole family is even more of a challenge.

You typically need to have a job (with a Canadian based company) offer to really have a chance at realistically doing it, so the first thing you'll want to do is start applying for them. You'll need to show that you have adequate liquid cash reserves for all family members, which was like 25k per when I looked into it. Theres multiple immigration programs, so you'll need to know which one you're applying for and what the individual requirements are, and then you to go through the actual application process which takes years if you're not in the express program. For self employed people the current processing time is 42 months. I would make sure all of those things are in place before I started picking a city, and even then your new employer is likely going to require you to live in the local area even if you're primarily working remotely.

Not trying to crush your dreams, but if you want to just drive across the border and settle somewhere else ASAP I'd look south rather than north.
[close]

i own a company so shutting down my company and getting a job would be a non-starter for me if that was the only option. i was planning to get an immigration attorney once we figured out if there was any areas that were interesting enough for us to want to put a serious effort (time and money) into exploring it. probably be after we make a trip up there which we were thinking about doing later this summer. why waste money if your not into it...

i was planning to talking to an attorney about expanding my company to canada and opening an office there. there would be plenty of business justification to make that work with my partner. i'm assuming there are tons of business that operate in canada but aren't based there. if facebook wanted to open an office in canada, i'm guessing they could. same idea, smaller scale. i might need to hire a canadian to establish the office but that would actually be appealing as it would open up that labor market to us.


https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada.html


Here's the website, I'm not sure how they'd classify a small business owner trying to expand, but I suspect it would still be as self employed. Again, I'm not trying to shit on you or crush your dreams but unless you're creating thousands of high paying jobs you're not the same as Facebook. Here's a quick overview of what you'll need to do if you want to try going the business expansion route.

https://www.thebalancesmb.com/as-a-non-canadian-how-can-i-open-a-business-in-canada-2948586

It looks like unless you've got a Canadian VC/angel/incubator backing you it won't let you immigrate any faster. Hiring a lawyer is a good idea to ensure you don't have unnecessary delays, but you're still talking about a few years down the road just to get an answer, and then probably another year if you have to appeal or amend anything.

Trust me, I fully understand and share the sentiment but if it was that easy to move to Canada then there would be a lot more people doing it. I know I would have 5 years ago when I initially looked into it.

My honest advice is maybe move to a state that's super chill and liberal? Vermont is pretty rad... but if you're dead set on emigrating like soon I'd maybe look into the expat communities in latin America or if you want linguistic and cultural similarities maybe Australia makes it easier to expand w/ a business?

Sleazy

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #17 on: July 09, 2022, 06:44:44 PM »
If it’s a no go it’s a no go. But our company had around 70 employees… we have a 120 seater office in New Delhi.

My family lives in Australia and I grew up there. The big brother, Karen thing there’s a little much for me.
« Last Edit: July 09, 2022, 07:11:35 PM by Sleazy »

j....soy.....

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #18 on: July 09, 2022, 08:07:08 PM »
For sure….take a run at it….we need more people who are happy to be here…..HMU if you roll through Vancouver..

Sativa Lung

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #19 on: July 10, 2022, 02:09:57 AM »
If it’s a no go it’s a no go. But our company had around 70 employees… we have a 120 seater office in New Delhi.

My family lives in Australia and I grew up there. The big brother, Karen thing there’s a little much for me.

We can't say if it's a go or not for you, just letting you know it's gonna take a long time and likely a fair bit of money to do it. You can absolutely pull it off if your ducks are in a row, it's just a lot more complicated than picking a city and buying a house. Canada is one of the harder places to emigrate too, probably because its so desirable. They're pretty selective about who they let in even temporarily, as anyone who's ever been turned away at the border because they got caught with a dirty pipe 20 years ago can attest.

Those websites I linked have a ton of good info, I'd recommend just scoping out the application process and seeing what it all entails.

Sleazy

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Re: Thinking about moving to Canada from the US
« Reply #20 on: July 10, 2022, 05:33:59 AM »
Thanks buttfart. I actually like the idea that it’s more exclusive, which is one of the many things I feel y’alls political system does better. I’ll dive in on those resources when we move along or call my attorney and be lazy but either way it’s really good to know that this is harder than most would expect.