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Canada
In our continuing series visiting potential countries for North Americans to retire or relocate, today we will take a look at Canada. As always, we'll look at cost of living considerations, accessibility, political stability and more. Check our blog for a similar comparison to a variety of other countries.
The United States’ neighbor to the north is not usually the first place Americans think of when they’re considering retiring abroad, but Canada offers some appealing benefits for expats, as well as some difficulties worth overcoming.
It may not be a tropical paradise that some retirees dream of, but for those who prefer world-class skiing rather than skin-diving it just might be the prefect place. And it’s hardly all prairies and frozen tundra -- from the ruggedly graceful coastline of the Atlantic provinces to the lush Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada is a vast country of natural beauty. It also boasts some of North America’s most important cities, Toronto (photo) , Montreal and Vancouver, all culturally vibrant and diverse metropolises.
Two of the biggest financial incentives for moving to Canada are its lower cost of living relative to the United States and its national health care program which is mostly free at the point of use for its citizens. Canada’s typically higher taxes may counteract these benefits for some people, but at the very least Canada and the United States have an agreement not to tax expats twice, avoiding a problem that can plague Americans abroad in other countries.
The biggest challenge facing those of any country who wish to retire in Canada is getting permission to do so. United States citizens don’t need to apply for a visa to visit Canada for up to three months, but to stay there permanently does require a visa. Unfortunately, Canada no longer offers a specific visa for retirees, which leaves expats with the option to either apply for residency as an investor, which requires a minimum net worth of $800,000, or as a skilled worker, which is only open to certain occupations. Expats who enter Canada on a skilled worker visa may find difficulty gaining employment in some of the eastern states without being bilingual in English and French, but French is not required in the rest of the country.
Country Overview
Canada has the second largest landmass of any country in the world, and its southern border with the United States is the world's longest. It is a vast country, and contains more freshwater lakes than anywhere else in the world. It is made up of mostly plains with mountains in the west and lowlands in the southeast. The climate in the north and interior is usually far below freezing, with snow covering the ground at least half the year, but the costal regions enjoy temperate climates and highs in the 70s, with British Colombia having the mildest winters.
Facts and Figures
Canada’s population was 33,212,696 in 2008 and is estimated to be 35,051,000 by 2015. Most people speak English, although about 1/3 speak French; both are official languages.
In terms of crime, the rate of intentional homicides is 1.81 per 100,000 people which is incredibly low by international standards
Political Instability Index (out of ten): 2.8
Quality of Life ranking (out of ten): 7.599
Economics
In terms of currency, one US dollar is roughly equal to 1.13 Canadian dollars.
Price of a round-trip flight to Toronto:
From New York: $311 (Expedia), $362 (American Airlines)
From Los Angeles: $561 (Expedia), $628 (American Airlines)
From Miami: $388 (Expedia), $428 (American Airlines)
Price to rent an economy car for 10 days in Toronto: $368.88
Median price for an apartment in Toronto’s city centre: $7,538 per square meter.
Tags: Costa Rica real estate, international real estate, living internationally, Canada, what to consider when moving abroad
Tags: Costa Rica real estate, covintec, green construction, home building, environmentally friendly, green building products, Costa Rica
So you plan to rent a car and scout property in Costa Rica. You plan to find some bargain real estate or homes for sale and plan on doing so in your rented car. Here's what you should you know about insurance options and traffic laws.
Tags: Rental car insurance Costa Rica, traffic laws Costa Rica, property and real estate Costa Rica
Tags: Panama, Boquete, Bocas del Toro, Costa Rica
Looking for a gem of an area for adventure travel and eco-tourism? You need look no further than the Pacific’s Ring of Fire, and Costa Rica is one of its greatest jewels.
Tags: Eco Tourism, Arenal, Pacific Lots of Costa Rica, Poas volcano, Irazu Volcano, Ring of Fire, Pacific Ring of Fire
We were in Costa Rica for the first two weeks of March, 2011 leading 4 back to back property tours of our developments. The earthquake in Japan was all over the news and we had one member of our group on tour that was from Hawaii, concerned about the potential effects of the Tsunami on the Hawaiian Islands. The tsunami did some fairly substantial damage to the big island of Hawaii, mostly near Hilo.
We sat on the porch of our guesthouse watching over the Pacific. At around 4:30 pm we were paying attention, since that was the reported time the waves would reach Costa Rica. Lowland areas had been partially evacuated in anticipation of potential damage. At 4:40 pm we saw a series of 5 or 6 waves making way toward shore. They did not appear to be that big but they were surely the ones we'd been looking for. Most of the day had been pretty calm and the waves were easy to spot.
We headed down the following day to the Playa Bellena Marine National Park in Uvita, just a short distance from our developments. You could see that the driftwood along the beach had been pushed higher than normal and had been condensed in a line at the high water mark, higher than it would usually be. The biggest difference however was the change in the famous "whales tail", a sand formation that resembles the tail of a whale, where currents come from two directions circling two coves and over the years has formed a spitting image of a whales tail. The biggest change was to the spit of land connecting the tail to the main beach, much of which had disappeared from the onslauht of waves. The northern tip of the tail was also damaged, not terribly but pretty significantly just the same. Here is a photo from after the tsunami.
Tags: Uvita, Costa Rica National Park, Costa Rica property tours