If I go to Canada can I retire there and draw SS from the US? Also can I go to Canada buy a cabin or house with a plot of land and not work? Unless I just needed some walking around money?
Not directed at you personally, but I find it fascinating how most people from first-world countries think they can just walk into another country and live there. As someone who moved from a 3rd world country to a 1st world country, it took me 2 years just to get in, and another 4 years to get permanent residency. And that's relatively quick. People from certain countries wait more than a decade to get permanent residency in the US. You either need to have a job or a citizen family member that is willing to sponsor you, or get in with a student visa. And not just any job or family member. The hiring company must meet certain requirements to make sure that you are filling in a position that is in a specific list of professions allowed. As for family, they need to be immediate relatives. So you can't live there just because you have a cousin who is a citizen there.
The world's longest undefended border is between Canada and the US, so it is relatively easy to walk into Canada and live in like a cabin or something off the grid. Doing it legally is hard part.
Easier in winter if you have good survival skills. There are cabins that sit empty most of the year, especially since a lot of people got them to work remote and then had to return to apartments in the city. Not suggesting anyone should illegally cross the border to steal a cabin, but if you do, send us updates.
I think the two biggest reasons behind that are 1) most EU/US passports give you near unfettered access to most the world and 2) the Schengen zone makes that a reality at least within the EU.
Yup, and a lot of people confuse being able to visit visa-free as a tourist and actually living there. Digital nomad westerners skirt around visa/residency requirements in 3rd world countries by basically leaving and coming back every 30 days to reset the stay limits. That won’t go as well with first world countries as they will quickly notice the pattern and probably ban you.
We have a housing problem and the government is actively reducing immigration targets (that’s you moving here permanently) and curbing foreign property investment (that’s you buying property here).
It’s not a great time for you to make this move.
According to Google you can live in Canada and collect US social security benefits. You will probably have to pay taxes in both countries though, especially if you're still working. To become a Canadian citizen you have to live there permanently and pay taxes for at least three years before you can even be considered for citizenship and even then it looks like there is a lot of other stuff you have to do
Keep in mind too that social security benefits aren't that much. Unless you've already saved enough to pay off this "cabin or house" up front, then you'll most likely be paying a mortgage, property taxes, you'll need money for utilities and groceries, AND you'll be paying taxes to both the US and Canada. Unless you're already independently wealthy then you'll probably have to get either a full time or part time job.
The only way I can see this working the way you've described is if you're already of retirement age and can also collect a pension from a job you already have that could help supplement your social security benefits maybe
Good luck getting a permanent residence in Canada if you are of retirement age. Even above 30 it's pretty dicey unless you're at the top of a professional field and get sponsored by an employer or a university.
Unless you come in on an investor visa. For which you will need to put in, I think, $150,000 as an interest free 10 year bond.
Yeah. There isn't anything in Canada that is conducive to retirement. Cost of living in cities matches that of higher cost of living cities in the USA. Canadian health care is better, but I don't know how health care for residents is compared to Medicare in the USA.
If anything, more Americans are beginning to retire in Mexico as the cost of living is significantly lower and paying cash in the Mexican health care system is equivalent to Medicare in the USA.
Unless you are planning to live off the land you will have expenses: groceries, utilities, maintenance, etc. You will have to pay taxes to the us, and likely to Canada too.
But what if I renounce the US?
Having moved to Canada as a 23 y-o with a valuable (NAFTA approved) skill set that got me a quick but temporary work visa. Hahahahaha. No.
At the time, the process for landed immigrant status took 2 years and $1,500 in 1996 money (neither of which I had to spare).
My best advice is to look at the official immigration website. If you feel like there's some special loophole, consult an immigration lawyer from Canada. It will be worth the money, even if they can simply spell out the reasons why you shouldn't waste your time.
Also - good luck finding housing in Canada. It was bad in 1996 and hasn't gotten better.
You can't just move to Canada. You need to meet specific requirements to get a residence permit or be sponsored by family who already lives there.
It's easier for Canada to enforce these sort of requirements as they have about 12% of the population of the US. Americans are not moving to Canada in mass numbers like Mexico.
donald trump being president is not a valid reason in the eyes of canadian immigration officers for political asylum.
If you are LGBT+, they'd tell you to move to a blue state.
Someone once told me they will pay you to move to Alaska. So maybe just get buddy buddy with an oil company.