Introduction

Hi there,

I am a Canadian-born Canadian citizen, currently living in the U.S., and this is my ex-expat page.

I was raised in the U.S. and have lived here for the majority of my life. For many reasons, I've decided that I want to move back home.

My wife and I have traveled across most of Canada and I can't stress enough that it is fantastically, unequivocally beautiful. We completely fell in love with Canada and feel it is our home. There is wide geographical and climactic variety. There is a deep commitment to preserving wild places, and carefully planning urban areas accordingly, that is just not seen here in the U.S. Gorgeous unspoiled forests, mountains, rivers and lakes abound, within a few minutes' drive of even the largest cities.

With (for some reason) the exception of downtown Vancouver, we found people all over Canada to be exceptionally friendly, helpful, and polite. I can't stress enough what a refreshing change this is from the "I got mine, so screw you" mentality so frequently seen here in the States. Most places here in southern California, if you encounter someone on the sidewalk and say "Good morning," you're most likely to get a suspicious look or no answer at all.

No major city is entirely free of crime and/or grime, but it's widely known (statistically as well as empirically) that Canada's cities are generally *much* cleaner and safer than U.S. cities. From what we've seen, this definitely continues to be the case. Mind you, I'm not big on living in major cities and would rather live in the suburbs or maybe even the boonies. But if I had to do it, say, in order to get work, I can't think of any U.S. city I would consider nearly as liveable and hospitable in so many ways. And I've lived in 3 states, visited several others, traveled across the U.S. by train, and done a load of research on crime rates and other statistics in various cities.

Canadian government seems more dedicated to upholding civil rights, separation of church and state, and ensuring that the poor have more resources to pull themselves up. People don't worry about getting sick or injured and then losing their entire life savings and maybe even their home, due to not having health insurance or because an insurance company uses the to stick it to them in the end. People don't have to choose between food and the overpriced medicine they desperately need (this situation is not an exaggeration; I personally have been in this situation). They don't suffer it out for months or even years without treatment for medical problems, simply because they can't afford to pay for it. An HMO health insurance company, if you can get health insurance, will do just enough to keep you alive and nothing more... and sometimes, not even that.

We realize no place is perfect, but Canada has a better quality of life in many ways, and we believe this is a much better fit for us than anywhere we have seen in the U.S. or elsewhere.

These are a few reasons why we are preparing to immigrate to Canada. This blog will be dedicated to documenting the experience, making the preparations, dealing with Canadian immigration (I am a citizen but my family is not), and other such topics in the hope that maybe it can be of help to someone thinking of doing the same thing.

Happy travels!