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Hello everyone. I recently came across this forum and hope I could get some advice. My situation is this. I'm a 40 year old Caribbean woman who has lived all my live here (Caribbean). Been married to a 63 year old Canadian guy for the past 14 years and we have three daughters. The problem is this: My husband has owned his own business here for the past 20 years and had no plans to retire to Canada. But recently business has been on a downturn and is projected to get even worse due to our collapsing economy. Now hubby is proposing that we take what savings we have left and move our family to Canada. He feels that he can retire comfortably in Toronto while I should be able to find employment to help our income. But our eldest daughter is 15 and the youngest is 9, and I'm worried that we might not be able to survive on his retirement and savings even if I can find a job. I don't have any special skills, although I would be willing to try my hand at anything to help with our financial situation. My girls are also Canadian by descent, but he would have to apply for residence for me. He is also entitled to CPP since he worked in Canada since he was about 19 up till the time he came back to the Caribbean 16 years ago. I'm hesitant to uproot my family and go out there not knowing if we would be worse off for the effort.
I would appreciate some advice as to whether this move is doable. Is it practical to move to Toronto, where he still has family, or would it be better if we relocated somewhere else in Canada with cheaper costs of living?
(Sorry for the long post)
The finance (savings) are moderate for now. A little over 100K (CDN) to start with. We're hoping that with this plus pensions kicking in soon it should be enough to make the move. Plus we have 2 rental properties on the island. If I can find a job that would be even better. Any thoughts? We chose Toronto because he still has close family there which would be great for our daughters.
For a modest 3 bedroom home, so probably a townhouse or small detached home, it would cost at least $300,000, that's the price for an older (but still in good condition) townhouse in a less expensive suburb. In a more central location, $500,000+.
However, if you're willing to look beyond Toronto, you can buy a home for much less, a 3 bedroom home in Hamilton or Brantford might be $150,000, about $200,000 in Oshawa, Cambridge, Kitchener or Peterborough, $250,000 in Barrie or Guelph, $100-150,000 in Niagara Region or London, and under $100,000 in Chatham or Windsor.
Toronto is in large part more expensive because of better job opportunities, especially if you have certain skills. But if you're expecting to have a low skill job, or even none at all, it probably makes more sense to live in a smaller lower cost city. So I think it's mostly a case of balancing cost with proximity to your father's family. Hamilton, Oshawa, Kitchener, Cambridge, Guelph and Barrie are about 1 hour drive from Toronto. Peterborough, Niagara Region and Brantford are a bit further. London is about a 2-2.5 hour drive, and Chatham and Windsor are 3.5-4 hours. A lower cost suburb like Brampton might work if you think you can afford $300k, I'm guessing many of your husband's relatives live in the suburbs too.
A simple question.......Did your husband contribute, EVERY year while he was living outside of Canada, to the Canadian Pension Plan ? Did he file Canadian Income Tax returns EVERY year ? If he did NOT, he is not going to get a CPP cheque at age 65 or 70, as he didn't PAY into the plan. No contributions, no cheque. Same thing for the Old Age pension, if he was not living in Canada, and filing a income tax return every year that he was out of Canada, he gets nothing.
Don't take my word for that. Check with the Canada Revenue Agency, at their information website, here.
When your children were born, did YOU register their births with the Canadian Embassy in your country ? Do they have Canadian Passports now ? Do YOU ?
Your Husband is a Canadian citizen, for life, that cannot be taken away from him, but DO NOT assume that he can claim a pension when he has not been living in Canada, nor has he been making financial contributions to the Canadian Government for a pension plan.
Both of you need to do a lot more research about this possible move.
While I agree they both need to do more research because I'm not sure how that would work with OAS pensions the CPP benefits is a different matter. If, as the OP says, the husband contributed to CPP for 28 years while he lived and worked for 28 years in Canada then he is eligible to receive 28 years worth of CPP benefits. That is his money, he paid it out of his wages for 28 years and it is due back to him whether he has lived in Canada or elsewhere without making further contributions to CPP for the past 16 years. A CPP contributor is not required to pay into it every year to be eligible to receive back whatever he paid into it in previous years of employment in Canada.
Well, he worked from about 19 when he moved to Canada until he moved back here, so he contributed to the CPP for roughly 27 years. He says that counts for something. And yes, my girls are holders of Canadian passports; they did not need to register, we just applied for their Citizenship Certificates and their passports. In fact they are on summer vacation there now. I only have a trv to visit Canada presently, but he is intending to apply for PR for me. I'm not sure about the Old age pension, but I'm pretty sure he is entitled to something from the CPP.
I wouldn't unless you own a place in the burbs. Too many landlord scammers in the city if you're renting will cause undue stress. As a wise man said, "The best view of Toronto is in the rear view mirror."
I wouldn't unless you own a place in the burbs. Too many landlord scammers in the city if you're renting will cause undue stress. As a wise man said, "The best view of Toronto is in the rear view mirror."
That comment is unnecessary and untrue. Toronto is a great city. It has its problems but there's no place I'd rather live in Ontario anyway.
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