Do you want advice about the process of moving, dealing with red tape, etc. or about where to live, cost of living in Canada...?

Try a post to olejoyful on the kitchen table forum.
oakleif

SORRY!! its joyfulguy and he's on this forum so will probably respond.
oakleif

Bud WI,

Sorry, but all that I know about U.S. residents moving to Canada you could stick in your eye.

And have room left over.

I think that it is rather difficult to obtain landed immigrant status, but somewhat easier for U. S. folks than for people from other places.

Sometimes it may be difficult for elderly people to achieve such, lacking a family member here who's willing to guarantee their care.

I think that one needs to be a resident for three mos. before one can obtain a health card. Some provinces make a charge, in some it's free. In Ontario we used to have a quarterly fee for our health card, then it was free for a while. The government of Ontario recently instituted a surcharge on income tax for health care.

That covers most doctor and hospital care that's pretty well necessary - not including face lifts, etc.

Sorry that I can't offer more help.

ole joyful

ole joyful, I was told that medications can be very expensive in Canada. For instance, my son who lives in BC has private health insurance to help with drug costs but says he still pays $250/month for a medication he needs that would otherwise cost him $500/month. This surprised me. I assumed that with universal health care (which I wish were here in the States), getting medications wouldn't be cost prohibitive to some people.

Do you know anything about this?

To Marie26,
Is your son a Canadian citizen?

One way or another, most people in Canada do pay out-of-pocket costs for health care, even those wealthy enough to have private insurance. There are special programs for people with "catastrophic" drug expenses and specific conditions, but you have to find out how to access these. Seniors and social assistance/disability pension recipients generally have government drug plans. Health coverage varies by province.

About the challenges of immigrating to Canada, I read how the American actor Sharon Gless (remember the Cagney and Lacey TV show?) wanted to move to Canada but her application was denied on the basis that she didn't meet the criteria for "skilled worker".

Patsyann, he is a Canadian. So am I but I've lived legally in the States for half my life.

Krustytop, that seems to be the problem with me. I went to their CA immigration website and took the 'points test'. I got plenty of points in every catagory, until I hit the 'worker skills points' catagory. They are looking for medical personnel and engineers mostly. I guess they already have enough bartenders. LOL. If I wait one more year I loose more points for my age again, and it becomes hopeless.

On a side note; I saw Danny Bonoduce (Partridge Family), live, in his stand-up comdey show once. He said he tried to get into CA and they denied him because of his drug convictions and sexual assault conviction. THEN, he said that they suddenly realized "who he was" and told him he could get in under their "rock star exclusion" policy. He made a joke about how he is a **Rock Star** in CA. I guess you can do whatever you want and still get into CA if you are rich enough.

Anyway I was wondering if anyone knew of any 'expatriot' type website discussion boards for Americans who went to CA.

From what I was able to find so far, it seems that most Americans prefer to retire to Mexico where the dollar goes further. There are a lot of small communities there, made up of almost entirely Americans, so speaking Spamish is not so important in those neighborhoods. The downside in Mexico, appears to be that obtaining any quality medical care, is either nonexistent or prohibitively expensive if you can find it. Something to consider when one get older.

Im from canada, what would you like to know?

Bud_Wi, what is your reason for moving to Canada. If you want to retire here and are not seeking employment then you need to contact Immigrations and fill out the applications. If you plan on working here than you must still contact immigrations and get a work permit and from there file for residency status.

http://www.cic.gc.ca

If you have a ciminal record you application will be denied for work or residency or any type of status.

If you live close to the Canadian border just cross over and go the immigrations office at the border....they all have one and they can give you more detailed info on what you will need.

You can also come over on a visitors visa and check this out and this would give you the opportunity to verify the info that you need and make you decision afterwards for residency.

Be aware that as an American citizen you cannot come to Canada as a refugee........many have tried and failed.