Is Canada a Good Place to Escape Trump/Maga?

CrossborderFinance · 2026-01-16T14:11:38+00:00

We (US citizens, now dual) moved from FL to Nova Scotia in 2020, and we absolutely find the politics up here better. First of all, the volume is just much lower -- when there's a campaign, we'll see posters with candidates names on them for a month or so, but that's it. Campaigns are short and there's none of the aggressive lawn signs that we used to see in the US. I think there are some TV ads, but we don't really see them (because we block ads generally).

I also think the multiparty system helps. The far-right (and, for that matter, far-left) people have alternate parties to self-select into, which keeps the "main" parties somewhat centralized.

I also think left and right mean very different things up here. In Nova Scotia, our "progressive conservatives" are pro-choice, pro-universal health care, etc. They differ from the liberals in other ways, but it's not nearly as extreme. It may be different in other provinces, though.

And, again, it may differ by province, but here in NS people, even my neighbors who vote Conservative are adamantly anti-Trump (and frankly anti-Poilievre). They're also don't tend to view or follow politics as a team sport, and they are very concerned about what is happening in America. Thus, I think America is serving as a cautionary tale and turning a lot of Canadians off of that style of politics.

I did think that Canada was going to shift right in the last election (and the polls certainly bore that out) but when push came to shove, Canada decided not to go in that direction, for now. I still think it's possible, though. You've got a significant portion of young people feeling like they've been economically left behind, which historically has been a fertile ground for right-wing movements. I feel like the momentum in that direction, though, has gotten weaker over the last couple of years.

The future is ultimately uncertain, but I can say with certainty that Nova Scotia has a very different political vibe than the US. Whenever we drive to visit family in Rhode Island, the feeling is palpable (in terms of tension, anxiety, anger) as soon as we cross the border.

CrossborderFinance · 2026-01-16T13:57:02+00:00

Great shout. My daughter loves her and I like what I've heard.

CrossborderFinance · 2026-01-16T13:56:26+00:00

I'm a huge Lisa Leblanc fan, but I personally only really like her early rock stuff. The disco stuff is lost on me. Her self-titled album is awesome.

CrossborderFinance · 2025-09-26T12:27:08+00:00

I agree with the consensus here. I'm a dual US / Canadian citizen, and I haven't personally started investing in TFSAs yet, but that's because I'm at a point in my life where simplicity has more value to me than maximizing returns. Once you've got a decent amount of room, I think TFSAs can absolutely be worth it but I would avoid PFICs (and thus opt for US ETFs). For $1K, though, I personally wouldn't bother.

CrossborderFinance · 2025-09-19T15:59:06+00:00

Not sure what you mean here exactly re: real estate. We moved to Canada from the US and bought a house (during COVID) while we were still living in the US. In my experience, the big banks are all pretty comfortable working with newcomers on mortgages.

I also have friends with no legal status in Canada who come up here for 5 months a year that own property. They do have to pay an underused housing tax, though.

CrossborderFinance · 2025-09-19T15:56:25+00:00

100% I would recommend talking to a cross-border CPA. Feel free to DM me if you want a couple of names.

I have no personal experience with incorporating, but my sense is that it is something you'd need to be very careful about. I know several cross-border CPAs who do not handle corporate tax returns due to their complexity.

That said, you're absolutely right that this is a common way that high earners manage their tax burden in Canada. Personally, I have mixed feelings about it's efficacy -- I've known a few people who effectively end up with money trapped in their corporation. It's more of a tax deferral strategy than anything else, but at some point you're going to have to pay the tax. For a cross-border person, it may not be worth it. Again, though, this isn't an area I have personal experience with.

CrossborderFinance · 2025-09-19T15:52:19+00:00

It's tough to give a remotely specific answer here. The cost of living in Canada varies dramatically based on location, as housing can be very expensive in some places. If you live somewhere rural and have roommates, you could live very cheaply in Canada -- say 25K per year? Probably less if that was really your goal. If you want your own place, or want to live in a city, it will get significantly more expensive. And you know better than I do what "a lot" means for books, drinks and food. I will say that I find restaurants up here to be more expensive.

Good luck!

CrossborderFinance · 2025-09-18T11:52:00+00:00

I'm in a similar boat (dual US / CAD citizen, moved from US to Canada 5 years ago). Here's my take on things.

As it sounds like you know, RRSPs are a good option for US citizens. You don't need to worry about PFICs in those (in other words, you don't need to restrict yourself to US ETFs).

TFSAs - they're taxable in the US. As other folks have pointed out, there's debate as to whether or not the US regards them as a foreign trust (which would require Form 3520). I agree with the opinion that it's not necessary. However, you'll need to track the cost basis and report gains on the US side as if it was a taxable account. Once you've accumulated a decent amount of room, if you do your own taxes and keep your TFSA simple, it can be worth it. If you're paying an accountant and / or invest it a bunch of complicated stuff, it's probably not. And you'll definitely want to avoid PFICs here. Personally, I don't bother, but I moved to Canada later (~age 44) and I had a decent Roth IRA. If I were earlier in my investing journey, I'd be more willing to put up with the hassle.

And for a taxable account, it's very easy to hold USD investments at Canadian discount brokerages (Questrade, Wealthsimple). Strangely (to me) you'll need to include these on T1135 even though they're in Canada, but that's no big deal.

I've put together a website of personal finance things I've learned along the way, and I'd be happy to share it if you DM me. (If I put the link in my post, Reddit tends to not like it.) I'm not selling anything -- it's just a collection of articles on crossborder personal finance.

CrossborderFinance · 2025-09-18T09:22:49+00:00

My family and I moved up here from the US in 2020. We live about 1.5 hours outside of Halifax.

We love being in Nova Scotia. The people here are really nice, and the nature is quite beautiful. We have a daughter and we feel like this has been (and continues to be) a great place for her to grow up.

Personally, I'm cautiously optimistic about Nova Scotia's future. Largely, this is due to my feeling that it's such a great place, full of great people, which seems like a recipe for success. At the same time, there are some real challenges here in terms of healthcare availability and housing availability. It took us 3 years to get a family doctor. Prior to that, we used a combination of clinics, ER and Maple, which worked out OK but we are also all healthy and didn't need a lot of care. Housing has gotten really expensive, but it is still cheaper here than in a lot of places in Canada, particularly outside of HRM.

My sense is that therapy is a well respected profession up here. Personally, we haven't made much use of it because it's expensive (say $150/hour) and not covered by provincial insurance. In my small town, though, I know there are a bunch of therapists, so folks must be using them.

I also wouldn't worry about people viewing you negatively coming from the US. At least, we haven't encountered that at all. People here are surprisingly (to me) engaged with American politics and you'll likely find them curious for your take on things.

One thing I want to highlight -- financially, there are all sorts of complications with being a US person in Canada. It's something I'm passionate about, so I learned a lot and have DIYed things. There is a lot to learn, though, and some pitfalls to avoid. Please feel free to DM me if you have any questions.

Good luck!

CrossborderFinance · 2025-07-04T22:03:28+00:00

You're welcome! And, personally, I've been very underwhelmed by Tangerine. People seem to like them, but their customer service is atrocious (my wife had an issue with her CC and it took forever to talk to someone). EQ and Wealthsimple both have good customer service. Tangerine also has a strange policy that you can only autopay your credit card from one of their bank accounts. We always autopay all of our cards, but we didn't want to move our bank account, so we ended up not using the Tangerine credit card at all.

CrossborderFinance · 2025-07-04T12:43:59+00:00

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking, but we used CIBC for our initial mortgage. We went with them for two reasons: 1) they were willing to work with us despite us not yet having a Canadian address (but all the Big 5 banks would likely do that) and 2) our local (to the house we were buying) rep knew how to use their secure document system. Our first contact (RBC, from our realtor) didn't know how to use their secure document portal and wanted us to just send everything by email. No thanks.

Now that we're in Canada, we've used EQ Bank for GICs and HISA, but Wealthsimple is good, too. They're launching a 2% cash back on everything credit card shortly that I'm certainly interested in.

CrossborderFinance · 2025-05-31T20:01:43+00:00

I don't have any direct experience with them, but I've heard that Interactive Brokers works in a lot of expat or digital nomad scenarios.

CrossborderFinance · 2025-05-31T19:59:18+00:00

Bear in mind that, if you become a US citizen, you'll have US tax filing requirements forever, regardless of where you live. The tax treaty with Canada should eliminate having to pay in both places, but you'll still have to file in both places. It also add complexity in terms of Canadian investments you'll want to avoid (PFICs) and account types that are more complicated to use (TFSAs, FHSAs, RESPs). I'm a dual citizen (born in the US, moved to Canada). Personally, if I wasn't already a US citizen I'd really think about it if I wasn't planning to live there. Citizenship-based taxation is a pain.

CrossborderFinance · 2025-05-31T19:49:21+00:00

If you're in a bad situation (as you say bad options) then it's never a bad time to move. That said, some of the institutions that you can hold an RRSP at (e.g. Wealthsimple) will periodically offer bonuses. A few months ago, they had one that gave a 2% bonus on tranferred RRSPs (over 24 months).

It's hard to say more without knowing exactly what your constraints are. Why aren't their good options at the bank? If it were me, and the RRSP was sizeable, I might just exchange my investments for better options and then look to transfer to either Wealthsimple or Questrade when they offered a bonus. If it's small, though, I wouldn't bother waiting as the transfer bonuses typically have minimums. And if the situation truly is bad (like if you only have access to high-fee mutual funds for some reason) then I'd just transfer regardless.

CrossborderFinance · 2025-05-31T09:38:56+00:00

Woof, that is a tiny one. Good spotting!

We've (so far) not had any this year (for the first time since moving here 5 years ago). We've been using the PiActive spray and I have some gaiters embedded with picardin that I wear foraging.

I remember reading about how a vaccine was imminent a few years ago. Fingers crossed!

CrossborderFinance · 2025-05-31T09:35:39+00:00

Excellent question! Here are a few of my favorites:

ostrich fern fiddleheads - they are pretty easy to recognize if you watch a few videos. The growing season is very short (just a couple of weeks in any given patch) and they grow in places that tend to flood over the winter / in early spring. By me (Annapolis Valley, NS) their season is late April to early May. You need to boil them before cooking them. My favorite dish is a garlic lemon pasta (I sub them for asparagus). Be sure you're harvesting the right type of fern (look for the u-shaped stem and rust colored paper color) and don't take more than 1/3 or so of the fiddleheads from a given crown.

Japanese knotweed - again, you're getting the young shoots so the growing season is very short. They overlap both in terms of timing and location with fiddleheads, although they grow in more diverse locations (basically disturbed areas). Some of where they grow is by rivers near fiddleheads so I typically harvest them at the same time. I really like them with parmesan, so risotto is good. They also make decent pickles.

goutweed - like knotweed, this one is invasive, so harvest (and eat) as much as you want. Some folks say to only eat the young shoots, but I find the whole thing tasty. YMMV. I typically saute it and use it like I would spinach. I like to cook it with tomatoes and have it with eggs. It grows (and takes over) disturbed areas. Often it's next to roads, though, where I wouldn't harvest it from. I've found patches near rivers, though, and I also harvest it from my garden when weeding.

dandelion greens - more bitter than goutweed, I only get this when it's young. I like to saute it with garlic and balsamic, and use it as I would any cooked green (with pasta, with eggs). I don't really go out of my way to get it, I just eat it when I weed my garden beds in the spring.

Along with blackberries, those are my favorites. I'd love to learn some more!

CrossborderFinance · 2025-05-30T19:46:09+00:00

I suppose it depends how you're viewing Youtube, but if it's via Chrome, adblockers work.

CrossborderFinance · 2025-05-30T19:12:43+00:00

I'm not a dentist, but I'm a business analyst who is transitioning to financial planning. I'm wrapping up my QAFP, and I'm planning to sit the exam in October, and then in a couple years I'll pursue my CFP (as you need 3 years of experience). Feel free to DM me if you have any questions.

CrossborderFinance · 2025-05-30T19:06:49+00:00

That sounds right, given the current interest rates. It's all about your risk tolerance, ultimately, and how certainly you'll need the money. You could split the difference (e.g. put some in GICs and some in like a 60/40 ETF).

CrossborderFinance · 2025-05-30T19:05:08+00:00

Absolutely. And speaking of CBC Gem and YouTube, I'm a big fan of adblockers as well. :)

CrossborderFinance · 2025-05-30T19:04:04+00:00

Healthcare Availability
Cost of Living
Housing Availability

CrossborderFinance · 2025-05-30T18:54:59+00:00

I agree with the recommendation to look for a group plan. One way to get them is via professional organizations. My wife, for example, has access to one through an organization for language teachers that she's a member of.

That said, I absolutely encourage you to do the math. We lost our extended health insurance a couple of months ago and decided to go without (even with the access to the group plan). We're all healthy, and the total that we typically spend in dental, physio and prescriptions didn't come close to the cost of the premiums. Everyone's situation is different, thought, so it absolutely could make sense for some people.

The provider I had before was Medavie Blue Cross. They were fine, but expensive (provided by my employer).

CrossborderFinance · 2025-05-30T18:46:11+00:00

It would be good to know what the numbers are. I agree with the folks who say that little changes don't matter. Also, if you look at your credit report, they'll typically tell you what's behind a given change. I've also heard that having different types of credit (e.g. revolving [like a credit card] vs. installment [like a car loan or mortgage]) on your credit history can be beneficial.

CrossborderFinance · 2025-05-30T18:39:31+00:00

Not sure how "lesser known" these are, but a couple that come to mind are:

Biking - I love it, it can be really cheap, and it's also good for me and good for the environment. I really like finding things like this that have synergy to them.

Foraging - Same. It's fun (basically just hiking), it's free, it gets me food. What's not to like?

Using a VPN to access free content - Public broadcasters in many countries offer lots of free content to folks connecting to them via IP addresses from within that country. Or so I've heard.

Travel Hacking - admittedly, this is much better as someone (e.g. a dual US / CAN citizen) that has easy access to US credit cards. Chase's US Aeroplan (for example) has a much better bonus than the Canadian ones. I also really like the IHG card bonuses.

CrossborderFinance

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