<p>I am making an assumption that no one has underestimated the stupidity of the American people, and once again most will vote against their economic self-interests and without once having read any article that discusses in detail, and objectively, the major issues facing the US in the future. These issues threaten to leave the US in the dust and as a 3rd world country.</p>
<p>I want to leave. Unfortunately, I am stuck here for the next 6 years. My tuition benefits are too generous to leave now. </p>
<p>Canada is close enough to my family so as to not spend 18 hours flying, I love Montreal and Toronto, and I’m a physician who could probably find work.
Downsides:
Economic- less $. I could probably deal with it by that point.
Weather- Really cold in the long winter (but there’s Poutine to keep you padded)</p>
<p>Well, I would count it as a disadvantage that if “the US is left in the dust as a 3rd world country”, Canada may well be in worse shape. I don’t think its economy is completely independent of ours.</p>
<p>On the other hand, global warming may do wonders for crop yields in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.</p>
<p>I think there is a fairly sizable population of American retirees in Nova Scotia, who are there for the socialized medicine and pleasant surroundings.</p>
<p>My sister-in-law moved to Canada for graduate school and never left. Her husband is a one-time draft dodger, and her 20-something kids (whom I love) have very snotty attitudes about the US, although one is considering settling in California in a few years.</p>
<p>If you plan on going to Montreal (or anywhere in Quebec) I hope you a fluent in French-Canadian.</p>
<p>When I was a freshman in high school my algebra teacher emigrated to Canada - early 70’s. I had trouble with the concept - it seemed so foreign to me - my dad was military and we lived in Germany for three years. It was clear to me growing up that people came to the US they didn’t leave it.</p>
<p>That said - many parts of Canada are beautiful and Canadians are wonderful people.
Question: Do you plan on renouncing your US Citizenship?</p>
<p>When you retire you can be a snowbird and drive your RV down I-81 & I-95 to Florida - ;)</p>
<p>dufay, I’ve lived most of my adult life in Canada, and have dual citizenship, as do my children. We’ve had stints on both sides of the border and a few years ago had a decision to make as to where to settle, probably, for good. We chose to return to Canada and have never once regretted our decision. </p>
<p>The tax burden is definitely higher, particularly for those at the upper end of the scale, which is where we are. The benefits far outweigh the negatives, in our opinion. Depending where in the U.S. you live, the cost of living may or may not be higher here. Same with how cold it gets in winter. We spent a couple of years in the Boston area and the winters there were always worse than they are in Toronto.</p>
<p>As a physician, no doubt you’d be able to emigrate with ease. Yes, you’d probably earn less but that doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to live a very nice life. One benefit is that you’ll get to practice medicine without ANY concerns surrounding billing or insurance companies.</p>
<p>If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.</p>
<p>Justamom, you do not need to speak French to live in Montreal. Much of the population there are English-speaking and can exist without speaking French with no problem. Also, you do not need to renounce your citizenship. Dual citizenship has been allowed for several years.</p>
<p>Our family are dual citizens who have lived in both worlds, currently in Canada but much of our family still in the US.</p>
<p>You can keep your US citizenship and still vote in the US and become a Canadian citizen and vote here too. You have to file taxes with both but with the tax treaty it doesn’t mean more taxes (money goes to just one).</p>
<p>Taxes are not that different- people focus a lot on the marginal tax rate, and ignore that the lower level income brackets have extremely low tax. Its blown out of proportion. When I left the states and came here, I did a calculation by state and province, and the overall income tax rate in both places was about 35%. Its also misleading to compare income tax rates as up here we don’t have the hefty soc. sec. tax and many things that have fees there, are free here. </p>
<p>Things are definitely more expensive and income for professionals, especially doctors, is lower. But there are many many benefits that offset that (which I won’t state here or I will just sound annoying- you can PM me if you like). Overall our lifestyle is much better here and we have absolutely no need for more income. </p>
<p>You could move to the westcoast to avoid the weather issue. A snowday here is a rare thing. Summers are in the 80s without humidity. Tons and tons of American expats here by the way, probably every second person we know.</p>
<p>Yes I understand that you may have dual citizenship - the only reason I asked the question is the reason for the emigration - that he is unsatisfied with the US.
Just curious that’s all.</p>
<p>I’d consider it if the tax burden became higher in the US than in Canada. I’m also looking at Australia, UK, UAE(obviously not for citizenship).</p>
<p>“once again most will vote against their economic self-interests”</p>
<p>Poetsheart, this is code for voting Republican. Whenever Democrats see people vote Republican they say the voters are going against their economic self interest. Actually, I never knew this until reading all these political threads on CC. From what I gather the Democratic line goes that the Dems platform is beneficial to the economic interest of the average middle class voter and the Republican platform is not, so if a middle class voter chooses a Republican s/he is going against his/her economic self interest. </p>
<p>So far, no one has ever spelled out the specifics of this claim as far as I can tell. I suspect it has something to do with all the socialized this and that the govt would give you in exchange for more taxes. The OP is the usual “if the Dems lose I’m moving to Canada” threat.</p>
<p>fwiw - my favorite part of Canada is the Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise part. I also like Calgary. Of course, those are the only parts of Canada I’ve visited, so I’m sure I would like other places in Canada too.</p>
<p>I agree that if the US became a third world country then Canada would have an economic problem. If you check Wikipedia on Canadian economy, I think you will find that the US buys around 75% of Canadian exports, and maybe 60% of its oil and gas. It would be tough to lose your biggest customer. </p>
<p>There are a TON of Canadian retirees in south Florida, esplly around Orlando and Naples. Naples/Fort Myers is an outpost of Canada and Indiana.</p>
<p>The fact that the US is Canada’s biggest customer is why Obama had to send someone to the Canadian govt to assure them he wasn’t really against NAFTA and it was “just talk”.</p>