Ray51

Hi all ,
whereas I realise most people leave to Canada during their working years , would anyone here , just perchance , know of a useful contact , who could help with emmigration , in order to retire in Ontario , Quebec , or where else there ? ( the retirement : just befor , or just after 60 )

Greenhill

I remember a similar post on the immigration forum from a while back, after searching back for it I found the following threads (you may also want to check out the current immigration options):-


http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=462017

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=397113

Paul Wildy

There is no retiree category for immigration. Your only option would be if you have a reletive living here already who was willing to sponsor you

iaink

There was another thread recently sort of regarding this too.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=487562

I never understood the desire to leave all your friends and family and a well established social network and start afresh in a foreign land not knowing anyone.

At that point in my life I want to have friends and family I can count on around to stop me going a bit nuts...

Paul Wildy

I would imagine people considering such a move at that stage of life are driven primarily by economic motivation - i.e. wanting to find somewhere to live with lower property prices so they can release equity to act as a supplementary pension because they dont have adequate pension provision. No doubt that is a viewpoint likely to actract some controversy though!

hot wasabi peas

Too late.

zims500

And then may be some of us , who don't like the recent ( demographic , fiscal and other ) developments in the U.K. and E.U. , so : to them , Canada might still appear an interesting consideration , the latest strength of Can$ notwithstanding .
And , YES , there are people out there , in that age of life , without much family and friends left - but who can afford to pay their way , to a certain decent extent ...so ?
Why not then retire in english-speaking , 1st world , relatively crime-free Canada , rather than in Spain , Oz , Cape Town , Cyprus , Malta , Istria or wherever else ???

iaink

Off the top of my head....because its 3500 miles / $800 flight from family, doesnt cover drug costs, will result in your pension being frozen, costs a lot more to live here than you would think possible based on visiting, and is mostly cold and snowy for three or more months of the year. Other stuff you might find diverting like soccer, cricket, rugby etc doesnt hardly register here on the radar thats full of hockey, US/CDN football and baseball.

And perhaps most importantly, unless you have a relative here already who can and will sponsor you, your chances of being granted a residence visa are slim to none.

FWIW many Canadians try and spend as much of their retirement as possible as "Snowbirds" in warmer US climates, and live in Canada only long enough to maintain their health care entitlement.

Paul Wildy

Yes, simply learning to speak Maltese and moving to Malta would seem to be a much easier option than getting into and living in Canada as a retiree.

Judy in Calgary

I have nothing against the idea conceptually. The challenge, as others have pointed out, is that Canada no longer offers a retirement visa.

Ray51

To "iaink" and all : Thank you !

a ) After 4 visits in the last 10 years ,
the part( I quote verbatim ) about " costs a lot more to live here than you would think possible ..." interests me most of all - would anyone care to add to this ?
b ) O.K. if not officially retiring , how about a really , really , really small business interest , then ? Any ideas ?

bazzz

Which immigration route do you think this would fall under?

Ray51

Nil idea ! Was hoping for a bright spark , or 7 of them !

bazzz

You should probably start here:

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

Ray51

Thanxxxx! ( Got it ! )
Hasn't changed all that much , in last 20 years ;
must remark : Oz have been v. v. much more welcoming and accommodating , to us , Brits elder settlers ...however : "different stroke" , and all that jazz ???