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As Americans, born in Canada’s culturally similar next door neighbor, we don’t fit the generally understood profile of an immigrant family in Canada. We’re generally taken for Canadians unless we mention where we are from. Often it‘s only our Yankee accents that let people know we’re “from away.” Indeed, few people here actually view us as immigrants at all. This is because Canadians are so familiar with Americans and American culture, saturated as the country is with American movies, television and music. For the most part, Canadians view themselves along with Americans as fellow “North-Americans” and regard the border as a mere inconvenience. Canada accepts more immigrants per capita annually than even the United States, and, like Americans, Canadians view their country as fundamentally shaped by immigration. In recent decades, the majority of immigrants to Canada have come from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Only about four or five thousand Americans annually, officially immigrate to Canada, mostly because of marriage or family ties. My wife and I left the home and life we had built in the U.S. in the middle of our careers and while we were starting a family. In this respect, we are unlike many ex-patriot Americans who are often very young, single people seeking excitement, or well invested, pensioned retirees looking for the next adventure in life.

“I want to go to Nova Scotia,” wasn’t quite the answer my future wife expected when she asked me where I wanted to go in life back when we were dating. That was nearly fifteen years and two children ago, so apparently I didn’t completely scare her off. After we finished college we settled in New York City. My wife established a career in the merchandising office of a large retail department store chain, while I began a career in publishing.

We traveled to many places around the U.S. and overseas, but it was many years before our travels took us across the Bay of Fundy, to Nova Scotia. That was five years ago, and it was love at first sight. We knew then and there that we would someday make Nova Scotia our home.

Canada is a good choice for Americans for a number of reasons. The two countries are very similar so there is less of the culture shock associated with moving overseas. We found the differences to be rather subtle.

Canada officially uses the metric system, although Canadians of my acquaintance have not fully embraced it. For example, no one looks at me blankly when I mention that my new son weighed nine pounds at birth, Canadians know that’s a big baby. It took awhile to know how to dress for the weather...twenty degrees sounds very cold to Americans, its not. As it turns out, this is not a significant issue at all--after a few weeks, we were conversant in both systems.
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Geographically, few parts of the U.S. are more than a couple of day’s drive from the nearest Canadian territory. Travel to Canada is not complicated, and you should plan to visit the area you are interested in as often as you can if you are considering going to the trouble and expense of immigrating here. Eighty percent of Canadians live within 100 miles of the U.S. border. Family and friends can visit as conveniently as if you had moved to another part of the U.S. As a resident of Canada, you can just as easily attend your twentieth high school reunion in the States, or even spend a weekend shopping at American outlet malls as if you lived in another part of the U.S. Winters in Canada are long and snowy, as are winters in many parts of the U.S. A glance at a map shows parts of Canadian territory actually lie at latitudes further south than lots of U.S. territory (not even considering Alaska). Some regions of Canada can get very hot in the summer months if that’s what you like. Personally, I find the cooler summer temperatures here in the Maritimes much more to my comfort.

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For a newcomer from the States, Canada is not as convenient in some respects as the U.S. There are not nearly as many drive-through windows, retail malls, or fast food outlets. In Nova Scotia, where we live, most stores are required by law to close on Sundays. You have to plan ahead for the weekend.

What remains most striking to us is the sheer size of the country. In a way, its vastness is a defining characteristic of Canada, the largest (geographically speaking) country in the world, with a population a tenth of that of the U.S. Unless you move to a large city like Toronto or Vancouver, you will frequently find yourself entirely alone. You can drive for miles without encountering another car. We don’t wait in line as long as we did in America, or find ourselves in traffic nearly as often.

A word about the health care system. It is often heard in the U.S. that the universal healthcare system in Canada is unwieldy and inefficient. This is quite simply not our experience. For example, my wife had a child born in America, and one born two years later in Canada. The treatment she received in Canada was completely analogous to that she received in the U.S. Also, earlier this year, I broke my ankle requiring surgery and physical therapy. Under the Canadian healthcare system, I received access to specialists and high tech diagnostic equipment at a level I would have expected in the U.S. The major difference was that all services were provided free of charge with no lengthy forms, no waiting, no co-pays, no anxiety, no uncovered expenses, and no hassle.

All in all, the differences are in most respects no more than we would have expected when moving from one state in the U.S. to another and in time become unnoticed.

Canada welcomes immigrants, and the contribution by immigrants to the economy is considered very important. Immigration to Canada is based on a point system wherein points are given for education, language ability (proficiency in either French or English, Canada’s official languages), years of work experience, adaptability (family, education, or work experience within Canada, or arranged employment in Canada) and a number of other factors. Married couples (or domestic partners within the guidelines) can count the education of both spouses toward the total point score, and so the system is subtly weighted to favor married (or partnered) people. You can take a self-assessment and find all forms at the web site for Immigration Canada.

In addition to meeting or exceeding the requisite number of points, an applicant must be of good character, which is established by providing a clean police certificate to the immigration authorities. The police certificate is obtained from the FBI by providing fingerprints and requesting one. The FBI returns the fingerprint form with a stamp on the back indicating no police record.
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Finally, there are fees (at the time we went through the process, the fees totaled about $500 US per person), and you must demonstrate sufficient funds in the bank to establish yourself in Canada (based on the number of people in your family, for us at the time, the funds required was about $12,000 US for a couple). The process took nearly two years, and during that time, we had our first child and had to add him to our application. There were long periods of time (months) in which we received no correspondence from Immigration, and it is not possible to contact the agency directly. They are as enigmatic as the Sphinx, except that the Sphinx talks more. Just when we thought we could bear it no longer, we received notice to submit medical exams. The purpose of the medical exam is to establish that the applicant has no communicable diseases, or a medical condition that would place an “excessive” burden on the country’s fully funded health care system.

At last, we received a thick envelope from Immigration requesting our passports be sent (including a passport for our three-month-old baby). These were mailed back stamped with our Permanent Resident visas. All that remained was to wrap up our affairs, and report to the authorities at the border.

Upon our arrival, the Canadian border official that examined our documents greeted us with a warm “welcome home.” We brought our household belongings in a rented truck along with a list to be filed thus avoiding any duties and tariffs. We moved into the home we had built in Nova Scotia, thereby saving considerably on expenses. It is worth noting that housing in Canada is much less expensive than in the U.S.

Importing our car was expensive and time consuming. We had to pay taxes on the car’s assessed value, other fees, and costs for inspection and modification of the car to comply with Canadian safety regulations. The total expenses for the car exceeded $600 US (for a ten-year-old mini van), and we would have been better off selling it before our arrival. It is very important to provide the U.S. border advance notice seventy-two hours prior to arriving with a car you plan to export. This is a new and important regulation arising from the U.S. Patriot Act and you will encounter significant delay and complication if you do not comply.

We had some friends in the community from our previous visits here, and they helped us through the first winter with advice about home heating, coping with (rare) power outages, stocking up for getting snowed in, etc. Canadians like to socialize a lot during the winter and no one is a stranger for very long.

After the recent U.S. election there has been discussion here that many disaffected Americans are considering immigrating to Canada. Immigration discussion boards on the web are full of postings from disgruntled American progressives, and the Canadian immigration web site has seen an enormous increase in Americans requesting information on immigration to Canada. The current interest of Americans in immigration to Canada is reminiscent of the draft resisters who arrived here during the war in Vietnam. Many of those refugees remained in Canada, and made important contributions to Canadian society. Some believe that Canada is such a progressive country in part because of the influence of the large number of Americans who settled here during the Vietnam War era.

Canada welcomes immigrants from America. The decision to move to a different country is a large one. For people who are in the middle of careers and family, the decision is even more intimidating. Some people may feel that the moment for such a major life change has passed them by. The immigration process is long and difficult, full of anxiety and frustration. We recommend that people proceed with their dreams whatever they may be. I have helped relatives, friends and others with the immigration process. I am available to provide assistance to those seeking it. If you are interested in immigration services, you may e-mail me at k2nyc@msn.com. In the end, we are glad we made this commitment, and happy with the life we are building for our family here in Nova Scotia.

To contact Kevin Click Here
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