Move to Canada

deemy2004

frugal_dougal wrote:

This is the route that I am taking with my application for immigration.

With the Investor Programme it's also important to know that as well as the requirement to have the necessary cash and business experience, you also have to prove that you have provided at least five jobs for other people during that time.

How I read it was -

You hand them £200,000 for 5 years, after which you get it back without interest. Can't see anything about 5 jobs ?

deemy2004

catchyerselfon wrote:

Deemy Dude i never made any trend toward my obvious uber millions ever getting me in!
Thanks for the sarky comment all the same!

It was not meant as a sarky comment rather, that 33k lump sum won't get you into canada... offcourse you could go the worker route...

deemy2004

The_Biff wrote:

I lived in Canada for 14 years & made the mistake of not keeping my UK Drivers Licence going. As a result, it lapsed after 10? years & I had to retake my test when I came back to UK.

So is canada as good as its made out to be or is it a case of the grass is always greener ?

catchyerselfon

I have lived there with the Army On a down side they do work bloody hard there for less holidays than us here as hard as that is to think about when you to Europe!
Catch

frugal_dougal_3

deemy2004 wrote:

How I read it was -

You hand them £200,000 for 5 years, after which you get it back without interest. Can't see anything about 5 jobs ?

That's why I considered it was worth mentioning because it doesn't say so on the website. It's not until you go into the Economic Classes small print that you find out this stuff.
You also have to supply all your profit and loss account details for all the years that you have been in business. They want to know EVERYTHING about your business.

hobbesandco

Canada is a beautiful country. I should know. I'm from Alberta which is even cheaper than BC and taxes are lower there too although again I believe annual leave only starts at around 10 days (I never worked there so I'm not entirely sure) and I think you need to work a number of years at the same company to increase days off. Also income tax is ASTOUNDINGLY, EYE-WATERINGLY high. Salaries in Canada don't seem to be very competitive either. On the other hand, living costs are generally lower (depending on where you live).

People are nicer and more polite over there. I would say it's a great mix and the right balance between the USA and UK. People generally feel a lot more positive about their lives and the future in Canada than they do here. There SEEMS to be less crime and there is a LOT more space too! On the other hand, people aren't as conservative and narrow-minded (barring Alberta) as Americans and hey if the United Nations voted Canada the number 1 country in the world to live in for several years in a row it can't be doing too badly. I think Norway is now number 1 but Canada is top 3/4?

I know that Canada and the UK has a taxation treaty so you can avoid double taxation but I would most certainly recommend a good tax adviser to help you deal with taxation issues in both countries. Also if you ever decide to come back to the UK MAKE SURE you have no more ties to Canada. That means no loans, credit cards, bank accounts, professional memberships, next of kin, property, anything unless you declare yourself non-resident for taxation purposes. Otherwise Revenue Canada will come after you.

Also beware that once you start drawing your state pension, your payments will be frozen and they won't increase with inflation. Unfortunately the UK and Canada don't have an agreement to increase pension payments per year like they do with the US.

catchyerselfon

Thank you Hobbesandco.
saving for a rainy day bit does come in handy in more ways than one.

EdInvestor

The Canadian action group on UK state pensions is very active.:) The latest move is to take the British government to the European Court on the issue.

http://www.britishpensions.bc.ca/

catchyerselfon

How cool is that!
Good on 'em and me when i join!

Lazy_Ike

catchyerselfon wrote:

Didnt know 'bout the State pension freezing tho' thats a bit of a pain still i s'pose the saving for a rainy day bit does come in handy in more ways than one.

Not only Canada, but other Dominions and former colonies have this problem. Been on-going for years with no result for the pensioners as yet. The pension is fixed at the rate you receive at the time you reach pensionable age. If you return to the UK, even for a holiday (I think in excess of 4 weeks but may be a shorter period) you advise the pensions people, and they up your payments to that applicable at the time. For holiday makers, most unusually, there is no paper work required, just a phone call. I do this for my mother who visits annually from SA. Don't know about those returning permanently in terms of paper work.