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Keep in mind that many of the Asians come in with a lot of money. You or I could do the same with plenty of money. That is one way to get legal entry to Canada (or just about any other country BTW; that's how Phil Colins gets to live in Switzerland).
You said it. The number of Hong Kong expats living in Vancouver is staggering.. just goes to show.
If a rich American wanted to relocate somewhere, why would cold Canada be their number one destination? They already live in a first world nation which has everything they would ever need. Florida and California would be more plausible with employment opportunities aside.
It's funny that it would be easier as a Ohioan like myself to move to California than to simply relocate "across the pond" (Lake Erie) to get a job in Ontario and live in a good area like Greater Toronto.
Its easier for an Asian to emigrate to Canada than an American, and is highly contradictory to the principles of NAFTA. And it is a shame.
Trust me on this, it is the US and its policies in regards to Canadians that is holding back your dream of moving easily to Toronto... If you want to see change the US needs to tone down the paranoia and start treating its friends with a little bit of trust...
Trust me on this, it is the US and its policies in regards to Canadians that is holding back your dream of moving easily to Toronto... If you want to see change the US needs to tone down the paranoia and start treating its friends with a little bit of trust...
Sadly, that will never happen -- Americans are some of the most paranoid people on the planet, and our government seems to love stripping our rights for "national security" purposes. Our politicians think the Canadian border is a threat, but doesn't even consider that the 9/11 terrorists who actually attacked us were LEGALLY in the USA. Besides, if someone from Canada really wants to illegally get into the US (or vice versa), they can just walk through a farm field on the MB/ND line. There are YouTube videos showing people doing just that.
[I DO NOT condone entering Canada or the US illegally, it is NOT OK to cross the border illegally, I'm just saying that an ill-intentioned person can cross the border easily]
I mean, it's ridiculous that it's easier for me to hop on a plane and go to Puerto Rico or American Samoa than drive just up the road to Winnipeg. I think it is ludicrous that we have to show a passport just to cross into Canada.
Last edited by northstar22; 04-26-2011 at 06:17 PM..
Trust me on this, it is the US and its policies in regards to Canadians that is holding back your dream of moving easily to Toronto... If you want to see change the US needs to tone down the paranoia and start treating its friends with a little bit of trust...
Oh really? In looking at the immigration process it seems occupational skills & age are highly weighted. Not one thing about country of origin.
Oh really? In looking at the immigration process it seems occupational skills & age are highly weighted. Not one thing about country of origin.
I think ajau's point was that there should be no limits on Americans moving to Canada, and vice-versa. It should be an EU-style border, with no passports, customs, work permits, etc., it should just be like moving from one state/province to another.
Sadly, that will never happen -- Americans are some of the most paranoid people on the planet, and our government seems to love stripping our rights for "national security" purposes. Our politicians think the Canadian border is a threat, but doesn't even consider that the 9/11 terrorists who actually attacked us were LEGALLY in the USA. Besides, if someone from Canada really wants to illegally get into the US (or vice versa), they can just walk through a farm field on the MB/ND line. There are YouTube videos showing people doing just that.
[I DO NOT condone entering Canada or the US illegally, it is NOT OK to cross the border illegally, I'm just saying that an ill-intentioned person can cross the border easily]
I mean, it's ridiculous that it's easier for me to hop on a plane and go to Puerto Rico or American Samoa than drive just up the road to Winnipeg. I think it is ludicrous that we have to show a passport just to cross into Canada.
You don't need a passport to enter Canada. You need one to enter the US FROM Canada. It's a rule the US government implemented to control all the potential "terrorists".
It's quite ironic that there is a level of difficulty for Americans to emigrate to Canada while they let in Arabs, Hindus, Chinese and many other ethnicities and their extended families by the score. A huge portion of the Canadian economy is dependent of the U.S. market and the presence of U.S.-based companies large and small operating in Canada and providing millions of jobs to Canadians. There is a huge reason why most of the Canadian population lives 100 miles from the border, its not only because of climate or geography. A big part of what you have and who you are is because of all you have "next door".
I am not bashing Canada, I love the country and always had the desire to live in Toronto. If I was anti-Canadian I would have not visited your fine country 11 times in the past 9 years. What would an enterprising, educated person like myself, with a command of the English language and Western/North American culture and 16 years of business experience bring to the table?
Actually Canada is much smarter then the US when it comes to immigration policy. Its system is set up to favor highly educated people with advanced degrees which are in demand in Canada, people with significant amounts of capital to invest, or various compassion based claims (refugees, people facing persecution, etc...). I'm not sure if extended family of recent immigrants even get a leg up on the process as they do in the US though spouse visas seem easier then in the US where it can take up to 10 years for foreign spouses to finish the process.
Canada seems to have really deemphasized historical cultural ties and instead is selecting immigrants on a skills based list so they end up getting a more educated and more valuable immigrant in general compared to the US. The cream of the crop if you were.
Economically it's undeniable Canada benefits from being geographically part of the larger North American system and being physically close to lots of customers in the US. That said, their political system seems better able to pick a course of action and then allow the government to execute it, the party that wins the election tends to be able to governor, while in the US the divided government system means the minority can usually block all progress even for spurious, partisan, or just plain corrupt reasons so just because you win an election is no assurance you can actually govern in America. That's a huge difference which makes the government simply work better in many cases so they never had things like the banking deregulation boom and bust and Canada's banks remain much healthier and safer then American banks. Lastly, like Norway, Canada is a country with lots of natural resources but a relatively small population compared to income per person generated by those resources. That means Canada's economy can remain pretty robust simply if raw materials prices remain high even if other parts of the economy aren't doing so well (like manufacturing exports to the US) so it has to be nice to have that cushion. We're actually seeing a decoupling of the Canadian dollar from the US dollar and economic conditions in the US as Canada exports more and more things to the rest of the world especially to Asia.
I think ajau's point was that there should be no limits on Americans moving to Canada, and vice-versa. It should be an EU-style border, with no passports, customs, work permits, etc., it should just be like moving from one state/province to another.
I agree though given the fear some Canadians seem to have of creeping Americanism I wonder what sort of backlash finding 5 or 10 million Yankees suddenly moving north in a short time would have? The cultural differences aren't that large all things considered but some of your countrymen act like English speaking Canada is just one issue of Macleans and a cup of Tim Hortons away from being annexed by the US. Those poor sods would likely wet themselves if they woke up one day to find 1/3rd of the people in Canada were American expats.
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