SENIOR MOVING TO CANADA FROM U.S.

[donbela]

What are the requirements for a senior citizen to move to Canada on a permanent basis (probably becoming a Canadian citizen)? My questions center around income requirements (if any), taxes on retirement income (all income from U.S.), and what is needed to get immigration forms and what documents you need from me. I am 66 yo and my male spouse is 79.

 

[scylla]

What are the requirements for a senior citizen to move to Canada on a permanent basis (probably becoming a Canadian citizen)? My questions center around income requirements (if any), taxes on retirement income (all income from U.S.), and what is needed to get immigration forms and what documents you need from me. I am 66 yo and my male spouse is 79.

Canada has no retirement immigration class. Immigration programs are geared towards young skilled workers.

If you happen to have children who are Canadian (permanent residents or citizens), who live in Canada and who make enough income to meet the requirements to sponsor you through family class - then that would certainly be a very viable option.

Otherwise - assume it won't be possible to move here permanently. You'll have to be satisfied with occasionally visiting Canada as a tourist.

 

[Rob_TO]

What are the requirements for a senior citizen to move to Canada on a permanent basis (probably becoming a Canadian citizen)? My questions center around income requirements (if any), taxes on retirement income (all income from U.S.), and what is needed to get immigration forms and what documents you need from me. I am 66 yo and my male spouse is 79.

As mentioned above, it will realistically be impossible for you to ever immigrate to Canada unless you have Canadian children that qualify to sponsor you.

You can certainly enter Canada as a visitor and can stay for long periods of time (at least 6 months), but can never permanently live here. You can even buy a home in Canada to use as a seasonal residence. However you must always maintain a residence in the US and will need to return at some point. If upon entering Canada CBSA feels you are trying to permanently move or live here, they can deny you entry and issue a temporary ban.

Note also you wont' have health insurance in Canada as a visitor, so you will need private travel medical insurance while here. This can of course be quite expensive the older you are.

 

[747-captain]

What are the requirements for a senior citizen to move to Canada on a permanent basis (probably becoming a Canadian citizen)? My questions center around income requirements (if any), taxes on retirement income (all income from U.S.), and what is needed to get immigration forms and what documents you need from me. I am 66 yo and my male spouse is 79.

While the above posters are highly knowledgeable and experienced forum members, who I have much respect for, I think there is one more opportunity that they might have forgotten to mention, that might be open to you, regardless of your age, but depending on how wealthy you are. And that is the QUEBEC INVESTOR PROGRAM.

From my limited understanding of how it works, if I'm not mistaken, all you need is a net worth of $1.6 million CAD, approximately equal to $1.3 million USD (and it does not have to be liquid assets. I can be in the form of real estate etc., even inheritance money is acceptable they say). And you supposedly need to loan $800,000 CAD interest free to the Quebec government for a short period of time (something like 5 years). I read somewhere, this money can even be financed if you do not want to use your own assets and only need to come up with a portion of it!

In any case, I'm no expert on these programs, and someone with far superior knowledge of how it works can chime in!

 

[scylla]

While the above posters are highly knowledgeable and experienced forum members, who I have much respect for, I think there is one more opportunity that they might have forgotten to mention, that might be open to you, regardless of your age, but depending on how wealthy you are. And that is the QUEBEC INVESTOR PROGRAM.

From my limited understanding of how it works, if I'm not mistaken, all you need is a net worth of $1.6 million CAD, approximately equal to $1.3 million USD (and it does not have to be liquid assets. I can be in the form of real estate etc., even inheritance money is acceptable they say). And you supposedly need to loan $800,000 CAD interest free to the Quebec government for a short period of time (something like 5 years). I read somewhere, this money can even be financed if you do not want to use your own assets and only need to come up with a portion of it!

In any case, I'm no expert on these programs, and someone with far superior knowledge of how it works can chime in!

Yes - this is true. Things to keep in mind is that Quebec does assess other selection factors - which include age. Also, this is one of the programs with very long application processing times. The OP would likely be looking at 4-5 years from the time they apply to the time the application processing time is completed. OP will be early 70s by then - spouse will be close to mid 80s.