Affordable places to live in Canada?

[bw022]

You can't just move to Canada. It has immigration laws.

Americans may visit for a maximum of 180 days each year without a visa. Visitors may not attend school, work, or look for work in Canada. They may also not obtain driver's licenses, obtain a social insurance number, apply for health insurance, open bank accounts, enroll children in school, etc.

If you wish to live and work in Canada, temporarily, you must obtain a work permit. In order to apply you must have a job offer from a Canadian company which has permission to hire foreign workers. That company must apply for a labour market opinion (LMO) report showing a shortage of Canadians in that profession. Such work is limited to highly skilled professions (doctors, engineers, nurses, specialized trades, etc.) or highly temporary jobs (seasonal farm workers, some ski resorts, etc.). Finding a job offer can take years even for skilled workers as competition is extreme. Work permits are only good for a couple of years or until the job expires. You must pass medical, background, and financial checks.

If you wish to remain in Canada permanently, you must obtain permanent residency. In order to even apply you must either: be married to a Canadian willing to sponsor you; have a highly skilled job offer in a skilled job offer in specific professions and then compete for one of 10,000 positions open each year; have a net worth of $1.6M and invest $800k in Canada; complete certain university degrees in Canada and find work in your profession shortly after graduating; or be nominated by one of the provinces (doctor willing to work in a remote community, willing to buy/run a farm in certain provinces, world class performing artist, etc.). Again, medical, background, and financial checks. You must have $13,000 in savings. Processing times are three or more years.


The rest of the question is moot until you solve your immigration issues. Few immigrants have any choice in where they live. You live where your spouse, job, farm, business, etc. is.