dave_j

So two years have passed since we smoothly entered the country at YVR.
And what has our experience of settling in has been? Much of it is contained already in previous posts.
Our only daughter announced after she spent her honeymoon here that she’d like to live here but we dismissed this as pure fantasy only to be replaced by equally pure astonishment when she announced a few years later that she had a job here and that was that.
She applied to sponsor us under the family sponsorship scheme almost as soon as she had the taxation returns etc allowing her to do so.
We visited her and her family many times and since she was our only child we applied to come over on a Supervisa as the sponsorship process takes some time, in our case it took about 5 years.
CIC stated on their website that the process to issue a Supervisa would only take 6-10 weeks so we put our house up for sale, sold it on the first day only to realize quite quickly that CIC were on strike. It would take us 6 months for a Supervisa to be issued, during which time the house sale went through and we had to rent it back.
This delay should have indicated to us that time has a different meaning here.
We arranged to bring our belongings over in a container, and this side of the adventure went quite smoothly. We attempted to complete all forms accurately, although when visiting CBSA in Vancouver we were a little perturbed to hear that they didn’t have a category within which we fitted, and this was a theme that has stayed with us until recently.
We hadn’t been issued with a Visitor Record on arrival because neither the young CBSA agent on duty or his Supervisor knew what a Supervisa was and we had no idea what a Visitor Record was. The scheme had been up and running for a year or two by this time and we stupidly assumed that word would have got around, but this was not so. We subsequently found widespread ignorance of the Supervisa and some antagonism between different factions of government.
For example, as we were to be here for some time it was prudent to exchange UK drivers licenses for BC ones. The process is smooth if you have a Visitor Record explaining your status in the country, without it you meet a brick wall. Fortunately for us we lived a short distance from the US border and were able to obtain a VR relatively easily. The BC drivers license proved to be a worthwhile acquisition since every man and his dog likes to check who you are and your drivers license.. well that’ll do nicely.
So we bought a house, well actually we bought our daughter’s old house and she moved on. So we saved the Realtor fees but because we weren’t permanent residents we did have to pay transfer taxes. We found that not having PR also meant that we weren’t eligible to claim allowances on our regional house taxes, something we would have obtained as seniors. Otherwise purchasing the house was quite smooth.
On the subject of taxation, we realized quite quickly that we would be liable to pay Canadian income taxes, but here you meet another brick wall. Arriving under the Supervisa scheme, one that could in theory keep you here for 10 years, means that CIC consider you to be visitors. As visitors you aren’t allocated a Social Insurance Number as many visits to Service Canada confirmed. Well the Canadian equivalent of the UK National Insurance Number which serves as an HMRC reference for general taxation, is the SIN so we found it almost impossible to pay Canadian taxes without one. Moreover, without an SIN, CRA would not certify our copy of the HMRC Canada Individual that alerts HMRC to the fact that we would be paying taxes in Canada. More than one CRA official suggested that we continue to pay UK taxes but this didn’t feel right, especially as CRA had considered our NR74 and decided that we were resident for the purposes of taxation, so in the end we filed for Canadian taxes on paper without an SIN.
Time passed, Canadian time that is, so while CRA were slowly considering our request to allow us to give them money we were unexpectedly awarded PR status. Well some parts of the Canadian system are joined up because we learned that CRA had been alerted to our new status and we suspect that our taxation problem and sponsorship met in the middle somewhere.
Our taxation has been a little bumpy. As we had no SIN but did receive UK income on which we had paid UK taxes, we applied, when filing, to be credited with UK taxes already paid but this was declined and we ended up being taxed in both countries. At about the same time being awarded PR allowed us to complete our Canada Individual forms and sent them to CRA. Had Canadian time not intervened all would have been well, but it took CRA quite some time to slowly apply the correct stamp to these forms and by the time these had been sent to HMRC CRA had decided, after requesting much documentation, to reconsider their decision and allow us credit on the UK taxes paid and are about to repay our UK taxes. HMRC meanwhile had decided that we now paid Canadian taxes and have also refunded us our UK taxes. So from having paid taxes twice we now find we haven’t paid any at all and are now contacting CRA in an attempt to get them to take some back. But Canadian time has intervened again here. The CRA official who was dealing with our post filing submission is apparently away on leave until late February and her supervisor has yet to return our call.
Yes, it’s been confusing for us and we hired tax advisors to help us and they are as confused as we are.
But we now have PR, the taxation issue is on the way to being solved and we are here to stay.. we hope.
This also means that we are now inducted into the BC medical services system that means that some financial risk of developing illnesses has been removed. During the 20 months or so we were here without PR we funded our medical expenses ourselves. Being reasonably healthy (the CIC frown on applicants who are not well I believe) our privately funded costs were about the same as the costs are now, about $130 a month for both of us. Generally speaking, it took a little getting used to after the ‘free at point of use’ NHS but like most things it’s just different.
Having PR has also enabled us to apply to recover some of those expensive dollars spent on the essential Supervisa Insurance. Personally I consider this to be a rip-off. You must buy from a Canadian company, you must be reasonably fit before they will issue a Supervisa and yet the cost is high. In addition there is the risk that should you claim then such cover could be refused in the future leaving you in no-mans land. Thus the incentive not to make a claim is high suggesting the system is something of a money making scheme.

We registered with a GP almost on arrival but found that you have to be lucky to find a doctor who will take you on. Our first GP was a 25 minute drive away but a new medical centre has opened around the corner and visits to the quack are much more convenient now. It has amazed me that apparently a significant number of Canadians rely on drop-in centres for health advice.

And costs… Some things are a little cheaper, others like insurance in general are more expensive, but if it costs more then it’s just another expense of doing what you want to do, you have to keep your eye on the main prize.

So what do we like about Canada. We like the space, the warm weather in the summer, being here, being retired and near to our family. Ah I hear you say, but you could have done that anywhere, not so because our family is here.
What we really like are the parks and play spaces. Not so much for ourselves but for the grandchildren.

So what irritates. It’s Canadian time that irritates the most, followed closely by the love that Canadian drivers have for cutting through traffic that has marginal space for it. I believe that they come a very close second to Chinese drivers on this point. But Canadian Time takes the prize and by this I mean the time it takes governmental departments to do things. For example, it took over two months for CRA to apply a stamp to our HMRC forms, time that really threw a spanner into our taxation arrangements and these months do add up. After a few weeks I called the CRA official who told me she would be dealing with the forms and was told that she had seen them and that they were in a drawer but that she hadn’t been given permission to deal with them yet.
Another irritation is forced air central heating, but this is a subjective dislike. It’s noisy and can harbour dust and other undesirables, but compared with what we were used to it is quick to heat. We did find the lack of doors in many Canadian homes a curiosity but of course required in a house where bulk air movement is essential.

Otherwise things are just different and we’ll get used to that, even to the invidious realtor system.

I am coming to terms, having spent my life in nice sturdy brick built houses, with living in a glorified cardboard box. The never-ending search for the stud has intruded now and again, as has the need to fill the holes left by wall anchors (there’s a misnamed item if ever there was one) as they are wrenched from the wall. But there are advantages. Cardboard is easier to machine into than brick and having wall and ceiling cavities all over the place is really convenient.

The occasional power cut has happened and the recent windy weather has convinced us that generators would be a good investment, something we never considered necessary in the UK. I fully expect the weather to become more extreme and with most power cables sited near trees I think the generators we bought will become well used in the near future.

Booze is more expensive and this is a serious problem and has resurrected our interest in home brewing and although my daughter and her husband refuse to touch it, we find our results well within the limits of acceptability, and much better than some commercial beers and wines we have bought in the past.

We have made a few acquaintances, I wouldn’t call them friends, but this is no change for us. We tend to be a private, self sufficient couple and having family nearby is a bonus, something we didn’t have in the UK. And something we wouldn’t have had into the future.

I would say that the period from selling our house in the UK until receiving PR has been a period of stress and uncertainty, but then the continual preparation for visits and subsequent jet-lag before our moving here also had its moments. The Supervisa route wasn’t cheap but neither was funding KLM and life is now a little more stable with only our tax issue outstanding.

All in all, I find that our nearly three year adventure has been well worth it. And to those young couples who take the plunge to move continents, I would advise that you make the attempt to convince more family to follow. Friends are always welcome when the fickle finger of fate flicks s**t in your direction, but you’ll find that family cleans it up and leaves fewer sticky bits around than they do.

Stinkypup

Really useful post, typically people are coming with jobs and this gives a great description of the trials and tribulations of going entry via a Supervisa which though less commonly used will no doubt be really useful to people considering this route. I think that the Canniversary part of this forum is really informative and helpful for those considering the move and after the Wiki information people could do worse than browse these pages

Snowy560

Excellent post. I really enjoyed reading about your adventure, your apparent calmness over the tax etc issues and your very realistic take on life in BC.


S

Novocastrian

At least, in time, you learned to but a blank line between paragraphs.

ann m

Interesting read. Sounds like "the tax issue" has been a part-time job in your retirement! And you sound way calmer than I would if I had to write that post

Best wishes for the future.

vanity

Wow, Dave, thanks for this post. So useful and informative (and a reality check)...
Wishing you smooth and joyous sailing from hereon!

Buddyboy

An interesting post, thank you. My wife and I have been here since 1975 and are now, like you, in our retirement years. I find your very British wryness interesting, something seen far less often here in Canada. Yes, spirits and wines are more expensive here and, like you, I make my own wine. I strongly recommend getting your wine kits from Costco. They are less than half the price of those from kit shops and have absolutely everything included. It is, IMHO, better than commercial stuff and costs about $1 a bottle.

What you say about Canadian time is sadly quite true. British government departments seem far more dedicated to moving things along and we here in Canada could learn from that. Not too long ago I spoke to a taxation office in Wales at 4.30pm on a weekday from a home in London. They mailed me a needed form and it was on my doormat by 9.30am the next day.

Good luck in your transition. I hope you come to love Canada as much as I do.

Siouxie

So sorry for not responding sooner.

What a journey you have had - it's been quite an eye opening experience it seems! Very glad to hear that you feel settled and are happy - it must be so much better to be close to your daughter again.

Thanks for the insight too, it will be very helpful for anyone coming over on a Supervisa and progressing to PR status - having some info about the pitfalls will certainly be of use.

Here's to many more years of home brewing!

Shakyuk

Good interesting read, cheers.

I hope you continue to enjoy

Supervisa

Could you please elaborate on how you went down to the border to receive your visitor record attached to your supervisa (in order to get a Canadian drivers license). Same thing happened to us in that I didn't receive a visitor record upon arriving at Vancouver airport. I just went down to peace arch border crossing (in south Surrey,bc) by car and the border crossing agent insisted they didn't submit a visitor record for supervisas (all they were required to do was stamp your passport). Any help would be much appreciated!

Jerseygirl

We had the same problem...only received a stamp in our PPs. In fact the officer we saw at the port of entry didn't know anything about the SV...nor did any event else in the office at that time. A few weeks later we went for an interview for a NEXUS card at Oearson Airport, Toronto. We were told the stamp wasn't sufficient and that we needed a visitor's record. We were sent to immigration office in the bowels of the airport...only to be told by the officer there that we didn't need a VR.

I asked BE's friendly Immigration Officer...Former Lancastrian...who said we did indeed require a VR. We had to go back to the original port of entry...that time the officer knew about the Super Visa. We left the office with a VR stapled in our passports. Our VR expires next month after 2 years...no doubt it will be fun and games round 2 trying to get it renewed.

dave_j

Hi there Supervisa.
It really is disappointing that after all this time the canadian authorities still don't know how to deal with us supervisa kiddies. We'd hoped that they would have sorted it out when we arrived and that was two years ago, but apparently not so.
We live about 5 miles north of the Aldergrove border crossing and you're welcome to visit and have a chat about our experiences thus far if you wish.
We encountered the problem, as I've already written, primarily because we realised quite quickly that our car insurance would become invalid well within the two period of the visa and that this would require an exchange of licenses. ICBC needs to know what your status within canada is and will not exchange licenses until you have a document that explicitly states this. Letters are not good enough and only a document that they understand will do the trick and a Visitor Record is that document. You should have been issued with one on arrival.
Our experience with the Aldergrove crossing was that they understood the need as we explained it to them, and assumed a responsibility that their colleagues at VYR had not and issued us with one.
My experience with Blaine, haven't tried Peace Arch, is that they tend to be busier but that's no excuse. It's a fact of life that you can't trust anyone to do anything properly.

Jerseygirl

I could have written most of your opening post. We had a heck of a job submitting Canadian taxes last year because we haven't got a tax number. In the end our accountant submitted them along with a cheque. We received a letter from the revenue saying they couldn't accept our cheque...but they cashed it!