Canada vs. the U.S.

[Jeffdt1966]

I have been seriously thinking about moving to Canada ..... I have been discussing this with my wife and kids for a few weeks now . I have watched a few vids , done a little homework , but you can hear and read anything . I live in a state that is not mmj friendly and would one of last holdouts I'm sure ( friggen biblebelt )

Question is : would I be better off at maby moving to a mmj friendly or state or make the big jump and just move to Canada .. the healthcare and civilrights look pretty good tbh ... but I just dont know wich would be better in the longrun of things ...

any Canadian thoughts ? , American thoughts ? I cant help but feel America is on a downhill slide to bust at times but dont know if Canada Is really any better ? I read today that unemployment is at 9% in Canada .... hmmm I just dont know ... maby just a midlife crisis ...... or a bowl too many ... thoughts anyway ??

 

[medicalmaryjane]

How are you going to get citizenship in Canada? I would prefer Canada over the US. I hate the cold so it's hard to leave California.

goodluck in following your dreams

 

[Jeffdt1966]

after you live there three years you can apply for citizenship .... there are even programs where different provences can sponser you if you have a trade they desire ...

 

[medicalmaryjane]

but how will you work as a noncitizen? would they hire us?

 

[ShadyStoner]

Come join us before its gets cold...

Have you ever visited? Where are you thinking of moving too? Not Quebec I hope?

 

[Jeffdt1966]

no ... never been there .... we have talked about taking a vacation there to just browse around ... havent even really agreed on an area yet but have narrowed it down to a few areas ... both close to the border ... not as far to travel for family visits and such .....

 

[wayno30]

before it gets cold....lol.....middle of july .......brrrr

 

[Jeffdt1966]

acually checking out the dual citizenship atm ... doesnt sound too bad tbh ... you can get work permits kinda like you do in the states but that doesn't mean I can find a worthwhile job there ...

 

[medicalmaryjane]

acually checking out the dual citizenship atm ... doesnt sound too bad tbh ... you can get work permits kinda like you do in the states but that doesn't mean I can find a worthwhile job there ...

but you will always have to pay taxes to the US unless you give up your US citizenship. so you would have to pay dual taxes. that would suck.

 

[Jeffdt1966]

yea ... thats another concern for me ... I'm not really a big fan of the cold .... the debate continues lol - only thing I know for sure is I'm tired of having to be paranoid and having the constant worry of being busted and criminalized ... this just isnt the right place for us ....we have so many good friends here though - its gonna be hard to leave .. I dunno ... nothing for sure ... just feel its time to find a more " my lifestyle friendly " place to live ...

 

[borntoshine]

I just want to say that if you do move to Canada, move to Vancouver. It is awesome and is sometimes called vansterdam because of the shops and the munchie store.. Btw I live in Canada ( not in vancouver-I wish) and it snowed where I lived a couple days ago. Not lots but it did.

 

[Jeffdt1966]

yea ... thats a downside to the dual citizenship ... but I would only have to pay the tax's on my american home and property after the first year as I shouldnt really have any american income after that ... we would probally rent our home out to cover those or sell all together if we decided we liked Canada better .... shouldnt be too big a deal tbh

 

[Jeffdt1966]

Ironically Vancouver is one of the spots we have narrowed it too ... yea I hear great things about Vancouver .....

 

[Jeffdt1966]

snowed ... wow ... where I live it's been in 90's all friggen week ....too hot !! and the humidity makes it feel even hotter .....

 

[medicalmaryjane]

yea ... thats a downside to the dual citizenship ... but I would only have to pay the tax's on my american home and property after the first year as I shouldnt really have any american income after that ... we would probally rent our home out to cover those or sell all together if we decided we liked Canada better .... shouldnt be too big a deal tbh

you have to pay taxes from your income. you get taxed the same as if you llive in the US but you woud also have to pay tax to Canada.

vancouver is where id like to go too if i went. i think europe would be better for me so i've been looking into options there.

 

[Jeffdt1966]

didnt catch that part ... I would still have to pay american tax's on Canadian income ... that would blow ... I gotta check that out

 

[canuckgrow]

didnt catch that part ... I would still have to pay american tax's on Canadian income ... that would blow ... I gotta check that out

No you don't have to pay american income taxes on income earned while working in Canada for a Canadian Company. If you like big cities then Vancouver or Toronto both have a thriving MJ community. Be prepared to stretch your legs up here cause we have a lot more room LOL even in our cities.

 

[Sealight]

I'm american and I get the same feeling about it going on a downhill slide man, scares the fuck out of me, I got a study visa for France and have been chillin over here in europe for the last year, gotta leave in 2 weeks though, sucks. Anyways, I'd say canada is better, but also they're so connected to us if we go down they will too most likely.

 

[medicalmaryjane]

Here is some info on the tax thing.
http://www.taxmeless.com/page4.html

my brother definitely pays taxes to the US, he was just complaining about it the other day when we spoke. If you make under a certain amount, you can get tax breaks but if you make over that amount, you have to pay taxes as if you live here but you get no benefit...

 

[a dog named chico]

Me and the wife were talking about leaving the us too, although Canada is not on the list, nothing aganist it, just not for us...we are currently looking at Europe but that is about 10 years away before we could even dream about a move that big