Gozit

Doubtful of that completely. The practise nowadays is countries allowing dual citizenship, not ones that currently allow it, suddenly prohibiting it. And i don't think that would benefit you at all as a naturalised Canadian, as you'd have to either
a) Leave Canada
b) Give up the citizenship of your home country.
Neither sound good to me.

Gozit

This whole eTA mess is why I started this thread. It really ****s things up for us [soon to be] dual nationals who actively use both passports. I oppose it, but there seems to be no decision for Canadians to make in this, it's just harper's whole "let's copy the US!" bullshit. And as you said, we as citizens pick up the cost, bureaucracy, and hassle. And yes, if normal citizens must comply, "celebrities" should too.

Vulcanoid

And surely for someone who wouldn't be allowed in, it's better to learn that they'll be rejected before they embark on a 20 hour round flight? (as Canada's 10 hours+ away from most countries)

I have no problem with authorization to travel systems - my only current one is my ESTA, and I'm reassured to know I'm pre-authorized to travel to the US before I get on a plane.

A few months back there was a British woman who knew she was ineligible to enter Canada due to a visa overstay, flew there anyway, spent days in detention awaiting available return, etc - her life would have been much easier if she'd been stopped from getting on board in the first place.

beckiwoo

Would make it fairer on the rest if us with only one nationality though but I couldn't give up my British citizenship despite my despair of this country

I think someone had mentioned before but not all countries recognise dual citizenship - china being the obvious one and I do know of a Chinese lady who married a Canadian who gave hers up to become a Canadian citizen.

Gozit

But have you considered the fact that the chinese passport is one of the worst in the world at only around 30 visa free countries! That would be a good reason to get rid of it

Cabbagetown

I don't think so, because the ESTA is part of the visa-waiver process.

The reassurances you would only get, if you have a valid visa, no matter if it's tourist, or business or immigration. ESTA is no valid visa, nor does it guarantee entry, as far as my knowledge goes.

Cabbagetown

Agreed, exactly my opinion, however I don't think that everything about Harper is bad. Celebrities must comply too. In that case Justin Bieber would never be able to enter the US, or any other country.

The sad thing is that these "let's copy the US laws" would exempt all celebrities.
That's however not specific to the US or Canada, it can be found in most other nations as well.

And, by the way, normally it's the conservatives who are the ones to reduce bureaucracy, not increase it.

burks

The UK is recovering economically, but that doesn't mean that you will be able to walk into a £30k+ job. The cost of living is different in Canada and the UK. Some things are cheaper, some are more expensive. Everyone is affected differently depending on their lifestyles. That's why going and trying it out is the best option.

Having a 2 min look online and it shows that Western has 12 UK partners, Wilfrid Laurier has 2.. I couldn't find one list for York, they do theirs by faculty so it would be dependent on what faculty you study in. One of Wilfrid Laurier's partner's is Swansea, which is a place you said you had considered locating to in the UK.

I studied abroad for 2 years during my degree, and so I know from first hand how helpful it is in getting to experience life in a country. It can give you a completely different outlook actually living there rather than being there on holiday.

scrubbedexpat091

You learn pretty quick, only food that is taxed or processed junk foods, you wont have tax on any real food. (some of the prepared in store meals are also taxed)

Generally when I go grocery shopping its 100% tax free as I only buy food there, (they are not places to buy things like soap, toilet paper, cleaners etc)

Steve_

It doesn't do that, all it means is that you have to use your Canadian passport to get on a plane. You could theoretically still use a foreign passport once you get to the POE as long as you convince CBSA you are Canadian (e.g. citizenship certificate) exactly the same as you can at present. For land border crossings it doesn't even do that.

Electronic travel authorization is not confined to the US, several other countries have it and I suspect it is a growing trend. The US and Canada have already got an agreement with the Netherlands to recognize each other's "trusted traveller" programmes for example.

I suspect in a few years time that passport booklets will disappear unless you make a special application for one, stamping a piece of paper will disappear. You will have a passport card instead with an RFID chip in it and another chip containing the same information that is currently on the bottom of the photo page of your passport.

It's just the increasing use of technology, the US dumped loads of money into it first because of their paranoia after 9/11.

The US system is not as invasive as the Australian or South Korean systems imo. The information in the Australian and South Korean systems is more widely shared among govt. agencies from what I've seen.

Steve_

Well I always prefer that GST is added at the checkout. What is taxed is basically the same as VAT in the UK, in fact when I got the CRA GST manual I thought to myself... hmm... seen this somewhere before and when I compared it with the HMRC VAT manual there were large sections that had obviously been copied. The difference being the tax rate of course. There are some other minor differences between VAT and GST/HST but not when it comes to food.

At least in Canada you see how much you are paying, all the supermarkets I go to highlight which items are taxed on the receipt as well (which is legally required).

burks

Do you go to the toilet paper store for your TP?

scrubbedexpat091

No Wal-Mart generally, sometimes shoppers when they have their sales, but Wal-Mart is generally cheapest, Save On and Nestors jack their prices up on things like that.

Vulcanoid

I don't understand what you mean?

No visa guarantees entry. It says that a border officer may let them in, should they so choose.

By passing ESTA, you're authorized to travel to the USA, and knock on the door. Failing it means you're not even allowed to try. Given that most travellers will be allowed in anyway, and many of those who won't will be for various historic infractions (criminal record, previous visa overstay, known undesireable history), posession of electronic authorization to travel makes it extremely unlikely that you will be rejected, as they've ruled out that anything they're testing for on that applies to you.

By failing it, you know before you leave that you won't be allowed in. And thus you don't leave your home country, because you're not allowed on the plane. It makes things better for everyone.

Steve_

Dunno, but to expect the UK to be a more enlightened place is silly.

Er... 50 States - thereby proving my point!

I didn't say they'd never heard of Malta, I said if you said you were Maltese they'd probably think you were on about Maltesers.

And as for statistics, it's based on me asking a lot of people over the years. Usually when they started going on about how muslims and/or immigrants were taking over and "didn't fit in" etc. and then I would ask them a few questions about the UK, seeing as they considered themselves so familiar with their home country.

To date NO-ONE I have ever asked (and it was a fair few people) has ever been able to name three towns in Northern Ireland. Well, assuming they were English. The usual response is: "Belfast, er.... Londonderry, er...."