danfolkestone

No longer relying on the whims of CIC is the biggest advantage. Wait times to renew PR cards have been as high as 4 months over the last year, and who knows whether the rules on maintaining PR could change in the future. I'm also glad that I no longer have to track every time that I leave and enter Canada, which can be pretty onerous if you travel a lot.

One other factor in the peace of mind stakes is that my Canadian wife, dual citizenship son and I can now all rely on Canadian consular assistance abroad in the event of a disaster. It's highly unlikely that we will ever need to rely on it, but I'm certainly glad that we won't have to split our family up if something does happen while we are travelling overseas, such as a tsunami, earthquake or war.

DandNHill

Several different people have told me that you cannot get your pension if you're not a citizen?! I take it that is not the case then?

Siouxie

No, all you need for a pension is a copy of your landing document (COPR etc), your SI number and for CPP proof that you have made one valid contribution. Basically, for those that have been here less than 40 years, for CPP you will get 1/40th of the full pension payment for each year that you have been in Canada.

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/s.../pensions/cpp/ / http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/s...nt/index.shtml for CPP

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/s...on/index.shtml for OAS (though there is no minimum amount of valid contributions necessary for this, you must have lived in Canada for a minimum of 10 years to get it)

There are other pension top ups available for those who haven't made enough contributions to get a full pension if their income will be below a certain point.

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/s...is/index.shtml

DandNHill

Oh good, that sounds a bit better... although even with the new criteria I would still get it before I retire!