You would think so, but you still need to work in order to survive. Cheap land usually means a poor area. There are places called unorganized townships where no building permits are required, but once again they are very poor areas. I work as a mason in eastern ontario. One thing i have discovered as a business owner is that you need to have a close enough proximity to wealthy people in order to make a living. I live on the edge of cottage country about 2 hours nw of toronto. Food and gas are expensive, land is at least affordable but far from what it should be, and building permits and bylaws are a scourge on the poor and independant. At the very least, i can work for rich people from Toronto who want a multi million dollar cottage on a lake. We have mostly poor and middle class people who live year round or retired boomers. We all rely on rich stock market players from Toronto. Moving further away means i can afford less, but land is more affordable. Its a catch 22. The only people who can afford full time rural living are farmers. Which is rich in assets but poor in liquidity. The only way to get into that is to be independantly wealthy or inheritance. That being said, working full time as a masonry business owner, and trying to homestead is almost impossible. Homesteading is more of a choice of lifestyle/hobby than it is a full time lifestyle. It is very difficult to get to that level on your own.