₦airaland Forum

For someone working in Ontario, the person will still go home with more than $1,000. I am in Canada typing it. That's why I specify Ontario. Actually, the only province where they may not take up to $1,000 home biweekly is Quebec. That's after accounting for 30 mins break, both federal and provincial taxes, EI and CPP. CRA has a website where you can calculate this.

LegacyB:
I hope you’re here in Canada typing this? 16.99CAD won’t fetch you that. Do you calculations again first remove 30mins for break, then Tax, EI and CPP.

A person making that hourly pay in Ontario for 40 hours a week will take home more than $1,000 in 2 weeks.

LegacyB:
Just wanted to say your maths is wrong,you will hardly get $2000 on this hourly income after deductions. And you don’t want to know what that means……

Is that a typo? 22,000 monthly salary on a full time job? That's exploitation in my view.

WhiteIverson:
I totally agree which is why I made that post
Personally I earn 22,000 as my monthly salary and posts like this really trigger me
Let's say I try to survive on 1k daily which is impossible, my salary can last only 22 days out of 30.
Heck! I'm a university graduate and I can't raise 50,000 to go do my clearance.

Where in Canada is minimum wage above $5,000 per month? $60,000 a year? If you are open minded, you can earn more than that amount but not on minimum wage.

I won't call the person that start the topic an emergency lover of Nigeria. I'm a lover of Nigeria but I won't compare the price of goods in Nigeria with looking at affordability.

The challenge, in my view, is that despite all the natural advantages we have in Nigeria—no harsh winters, no hurricanes, and only short periods of extreme heat—we still haven’t fully utilized them. Nigeria should be a major global producer of food.

Sometimes I walk into stores here and see oranges imported from South Africa, Morocco, and other countries. Yet when I was growing up in Nigeria, my grandfather had about six orange trees on his farm. Orange season ran from October to December, and he didn’t even treat them as commercial crops. Most of the oranges went to waste.

If we were truly serious about agriculture, we could generate significant foreign exchange from farm products—far more than we’re doing today.

tarboshi:
Minimum wage in Canada is above $5000 per month. that'll above 6.5 million Naira per month.

if I earn 5000 dollar per month, what is a $4 dollar banana compared to my wage?

All these emergency lovers of Nigeria sef!

You are comparing affordability to price of goods. The fact that things are cheaper in Nigeria compared to Canada does not mean that an average person can afford those things in Nigeria.

WhiteIverson:
You say it's cheap but what is the purchasing power of majority of the citizens?

Let's compare

In Nigeria, the minimum wage is 70,000. If you were to spend your minimum wage only on 500 naira bananas, you would only be able to buy 140 pieces.

In Canada the minimum wage is $16.95. Multiply that by 40 hours weekly and also multiply by 4 weeks. You earn $2,712 dollars monthly. If you were to spend your monthly salary only on bananas at $4 dollars each, you'd be able to purchase 678 pieces.

When you want to compare prices of different countries, there are a lot of factors to consider. How do you expect the prices of bananas to be in cheaper in Canada than Nigeria?

With this your analysis, I doubt you've ever stepped foot out of Nigeria.

Seriously, were you expecting foods to be cheaper in Canada than Nigeria? You are comparing a country that should have a global presence in food exportation to one that depends mainly on imports. There are some fruits that you can't produce in Canada no matter what you do. What people talk about more is affordability of those cheap food. A family of four will need close to CAD500 a monthly to eat a balanced diet in Canada. For a two income family earning minimum wage, that's less than 10% of their monthly gross income. On average, how much is a two income family earning in a month in Nigeria? What proportion of that is spent on food?

Nnamdipapa:
Here is a bunch of banana I bought for N500, this would go for nothing less than $4 in Canada, please note these are organic bananas we are talking about not the extra-sweet, GMO tampered bananas in the west and I got this in Lagos meaning folks living in the suburbs might even be buying cheaper.

I also buy I big avocado for N400, do the maths and convert to $. When next you complain about Nigeria, remember we have cheap and easily accessible fruits and vegetables.

Same here.

Nnamdipapa:
The ones in Nigeria you get directly from farmers, the ones in canada are being sold by corporations who pay CEO's billions of dollars. The Walmarts, Real Canadian Superstores, the Sobeys of these world.
I trust the farmers than greedy corporations. I took a long time for me to begin to appreciate what we have here in Nigeria. We are privileged without even knowing what we got.

You are describing affordability. The fact that foods are cheaper in Nigeria doesn't mean that it's affordable to an average Nigerian.

internationalman:
It's easy for you to say it's cheaper in Nigeria because you are spending your Canadian dollars in Nigeria. You would understand better how expensive basic things are in Nigeria if you live and make a net income of #100k which is by default higher than what average Nigerian household makes.

You speak like this because you are one of the privileged Nigerians who normally use their own circumstances and situations as the bedrock of all Nigerians. The majority of Nigerians are those you see on the streets which is over 70% and not people like you who can afford everything because you are doing well for yourself or you live/used to live abroad.

How dare you say a country where some people's monthly salary can't fully fuel a vehicle is cheap. A country where a 100k salary can't feed a family for a month if they truly want to eat a balanced diet. Do you know how difficult it is for some people to feed in Nigeria.

You don't know poor people Abroad by lack of good food or balance diet. Both poor people and wealthy people eat the same. Hell, even homeless people in western countries eat better than most Nigerians.

Bro you have lived abroad and I expect you to know these things and say it the way it is. Food should be the cheapest thing in a country because that's the most important thing in this life. Every other thing in life is secondarily far behind food.

The thing tire me. Comparing quality of food in Nigeria to the one in Canada. Unfortunately, we don't know how blessed we are in Nigeria. There are some fruits you can never get fresh in Canada.

Nnamdipapa:
You get it, I eat bananas every single day in Nigeria. So fresh compared to the very sugary bananas in Canada. Even Canadian watermelon will spike your blood glucose so bad. Whites cook their soup with sugar and want to taste sugar in every food hence their fruits have been engineered to taste very sweet.
The coconuts are imported from Mexico and very useless, only water in them. I buy four small avocadoes for about $5Cad, with 2000 Naira, I can buy six big ones here in Lagos and fresh.

I'm not even sure if it is the lifestyle. An average Canadian drinks more alcohol than a Nigerian. Both males and females. Marijuana has been legal in Canada since October 2018.

May be access to health care is one of the reasons. It's common for an average Canadian to see a doctor at least once in a year. They will do comprehensive blood work to see if anything is wrong even when the person has no symptoms.

donmik:
You have said it all, bro

Also, lifestyle of alcohol and drugs are easy way to death

Having the right people around you goes a long way helpful for the state of the mind

Actually the regular bananas in Canada are so big and tasteless. It's just like eating water. The quality of the Nigerian one is not comparable to the Canada one. Nigeria may have lower life expectancy than Canada, it has nothing to do with food quality. My view is based on being in Canada for over 20 years and living in both Western and Atlantic Canada.

Nnamdipapa:
You don't know what you are talking about and I can educate you freely as someone who lived more than 14 years in Canada. Food and vegetables are cheaper, fresher here in Nigeria compared to Canada. I didn't eat lots of bananas in Canada as It’s basically GMO modified and unnecessarily sweet, I buy a bunch of bananas in Lagos every single day for five hundred Naira.

I buy one big avocado for 500 Naira as well, I don’t freeze half of the year and I have access to a wider range of fruites and vegetables here in Lagos. As a Canadian Citizen, you can never pay me to live in Canada ever again.
The only aspect Canada is better is the Healthcare and as an healthy person, I usually never had the need to visit an hospital in Canada so, same for me in Nigeria.

I am a Nigerian living in Canada as well. I agree that Canada does not grow so many things but you always find them in the stores every time from oranges to mangoes. They are all imported, which make them expensive. Prices of lots of those items have gone up in the past 5 years caused my Canadian dollar depreciation and supply chain issues with COVID.

Back to fruits, I grew up in Nigeria eating lots of fruits. From bananas to oranges to pine apples to paw paw fresh from the farms. Not preserved with any chemicals and better qualities than I can only dream of in Canada. The issue with a lot of people in Nigeria is that we don't care much about them. We treat them mainly as snacks and not part of our main diets.

On the issue of protein, animal proteins are very expensive no matter where we live. One thing has noticed since moving to Canada compared to Nigeria is that we lay more emphasis on carbohydrates than protein. I don't know the cause of that. In Nigeria you go to a regular restaurant, you choose your carbohydrates and then proteins are the side. Over here proteins are the main items and carbohydrates are side. I'm not sure if it is our culture, we just prioritize eating carbohydrates more. On the protein aspect, I will go back to quality, the quality of animal protein in Nigeria is not comparable to Canada. The quality is better in Nigeria. You can be certain of eating 100% organic animal protein in Nigeria unlike here that you have to check the label very well.

My point is that while there might be abundant food in Canada, I am not sure of the quality of the food. Food availability may have contributed to high life expectancy in Canada compared to Nigeria but I don't think that's the main driver. There are many other factors responsible I think.

My 2 cents contribution to the conversation.

MockingBird:
I'm a Nigerian and I currently live in one of the coldest provinces in Canada with no plans to return back to Nigeria any time soon as it is clear that Nigeria has become over 10 times worse since I left Nigeria about 4 years ago.

The current average life expectancy of Canadians is 83 years versus 55 years for Nigerians. The question that begs for answer therefore is that what are the factors that are responsible for this great difference in average life expectancy.

I may not be able to point to all, but from my close observation having lived in both countries, I have noticed that one major reason for this is DIET.

First thing I noticed is that Canadians have access to lots of fruits and vegetables and these are not just for a select few but they are available and affordable to everybody in the society. It might shock us as Nigerians to know that even though banana doesn't grow in Canada, Canadians eat way more Banana that Nigerians do. Banana (whether organic or GMO) is available to Canadians every single day of the year. Same with Plantains.

As a matter of fact, I learnt how to bake Banana bread because often times, you may have over ripe bananas at home which may not be edible but could be only be used for one thing - Banana bread. So without learning how to bake banana bread, you will have lots of banana getting rotten and thrown away at home.

On the flip side, as one who stayed in Abuja, Nigeria and driving through Berger I remember buying Banana from women and girls hulking banana around the Utako market. Back then it was usually for around N1,000 to N1,500 for a decent bunch. I don't know how much they may be now with the worsened state of the economy. In Canada, you can buy one or two fingers of banana if that is your wish. In Nigeria, you dare not as you will immediately be cursed by the sellers. There are far far more fruits and vegetables that Canadians eat that Nigerians would have no access to.

The second reason I think Canadians have better health compared to Nigerians is because of their access to proteins compared to Nigerians. By proteins, I mean eggs, milks, chicken, meat and fish. Their milk here is majorly a sugarless liquid in 1 to 4 liters compared to the sweetened powdered and tin milk we have in Nigeria. The average Canadian drinks milk like water compared to a Nigerian and you can be sure of the nutrients in the milk as their dairy industry is heavily protected and regulated with price ceilings specified by the government.

My summary therefore is that nutritious food availability is one of the major reasons why a resident of one country may live longer compared to a resident of another country. What do you think. Let me hear your thoughts.

Which type of visa did your quack agent apply for that is taking almost 2 years? If it is a visiting visa, your visa has been denied long time ago. The agent is just lying to you. Request for your GCMS notes, you will see why your visa was denied. Do not pay make any new application before seeing the notes.

GbengaBigBoy:
Thank you very much,i saw him four days ago and he said we should give them this month January and towards the end of February that they do not respond that he will reapply that i will now pay another visa fee 🤦🤦.

Most of them may be permanent residents or citizens. May be they got a very long visiting visa before their family migrated. It's not peculiar to Nigerians only. Even people from countries that do not need visa to enter Canada may be pull to secondary once they informed the immigration officer at the port of entry that they want to visit spouse and children who are already permanent resident or citizen.

tpain121:
how come I have a lot of my colleagues with their wives and children there, and they go visit from time to time?

Do they all have spousal sponsorship visas or whatever ?

Congratulations on your approval. Yours is an exemption. It is very difficult for a spouse to get a visiting visa when your spouse is already a permanent resident. They see you as a potential immigrant. They would rather have you going through spousal sponsorship application than coming as a visitor.

fastcars0000:
Canada is different , having your family in Canada is a high risk to them. I don’t know why.
I had to prove home tie using my Company and transactions .
Also I showed them I have over 15 Family members I send support money to each month.
They need proof so I attached bank deposit copies
My financial document I sent was over 50 documents Again when you’re attaching Bank statement have your Bank write a letter to support it. I pray I don’t ever come across such again.

Permanently till when, please?

hazel01:
what if he doesn’t leave after 3 years, what if something makes him stay on permanently

The implications of this development on Canada is very complex. If the US gets direct access to Venezuela's oil, they would compete heavily with Canadian oil in the Gulf Coast and Pacific Coast. The pipeline systems have been reversed in such a manner that crude oil main flows from North to South and not the other way round. Direct access to cheaper Venezuela's oil will not happen overnight. Global oil and gas companies will have to invest heavily in the sector, which will not happen overnight. It will take time before they have access to the "cheap" crude from Venezuela. Trump has only 3 years left. What matters right now is the person in power when Trump's Presidency is over.

Sheron50:
With Donald Trump having effectively removed Nicolas Maduro, could Canada face significant economic consequences?
If the United States gains cheaper, more direct access to Venezuela’s oil, will reliance on Canadian supply decline further marginalizing Canada’s energy sector amid limited market access to other buyers and weak diversification?

Teachers are middle class earners in Canada and in many countries. It used to be like that in Nigeria as well.

Bibitayo2:
Thank you so much for your reply.

I have a BSc and a PGDE, and I have been doing some research on obtaining a teaching licence in one of the provinces. I really just want to understand the financial situation of teachers compared to other professionals.

It is well known that teachers are low-income earners in Nigeria. Is it the same in Canada?

Would you advise someone to go into teaching in Canada?

Thank you.

Unfortunately bad news make news more than good news. That's why they say no news is good news.

SmartPolician:
Out of every 1 marriage that failed, 9 worked. Unfortunately, people prefer to talk the one that failed and its negative outcomes than the 9 that worked and their positive outcomes.

While appreciation is limited, investing in real estate is still a good investment even in Edmonton and Alberta in general for those who don't have issues with being a landlord. If you exclude condos, house prices have gone up in price over the past 5 years. Also, for whatever reason, Alberta tends to welcome lots of international and interprovincial immigrants, who will need a place to stay before settling down and buying. Alberta has one of the best laws in Canada that protects landlords. If I decide to be a landlord, I will look at Alberta first.

olubams:
I completely agree with you. I currently live in Edmonton and work in Acheson, I have lived in Calgary and Vancouver. I have had the opportunity to drive through the range roads outside the core city between Leduc, Edmonton, Beaumont, Fort Saskatchewan, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain all the way to St. Albert and the amount available land for development is massive unlike Vancouver and neighboring cities where you hardly see vacant land. This makes me skeptical about investing in real estate in Edmonton here because the current developing neighborhoods might not even reach maturity in 15 years and there are tons of land to develop. With such abundance, appreciation is limited and with advancement in technology and speed, new houses would continue to be cheaper to maintain across board. The alternative is to consider either farm lands or commercial real estate as those grows as the community matures.

Seriously, this refusal makes no sense. How many Canadians can boast of a US$7,500 monthly salary? The way some of these immigration officers treat visa applications is as if Canada is heaven. I see this person as someone coming to spend money in Canada and will not be a burden. My advise is for the applicant to ask for a reconsideration and request for GCMS notes. Telling someone with a salary of US$7,500 that they have no sufficient fund is rubbish. There are a lot of better countries than Canada. You not coming to Canada for vacation is a loss to Canada.

Judawoo:
was 35k and more money enter again even I GCDS was mention 35k,
Tourist pass bought with tiquet and TripAdvisor for Montreal, hotel book, fly ticket travel insurance, itinerary letter day by day, employment letter, introduction letter , salary increase from 7500usd to 9500usd certificate, leave employment, work certificate, seaman book, 3 others Schengen visa, seaman certificate, credit visa gold card picture, marriage certificate, old Schengen visit pictures and offshore pictures, work ID card, offshore telex copy , payslips , travel insurance for whole world for 1 months, 3 month bank statement, Europe trip boarding pass, Nigeria resident permit because he is Togolese, seaman certificate, funny the denied visa choke and choke for insufficient found! Till now there is the money in the account more than 35k

Given the way cities develop in Canada, houses built 30 to 60 years ago will be in an established parts of the city with good infrastructure connections and known communities as you mentioned. However, over the 30 to 60 years, new communities are established and people tend to move to those communities leaving the older ones behind. Lot of these communities are in downtown full of undesirable characters. If you buy a 30 to 60 year old house, a lot could happen in 15 - 25 years when you might be looking to sell it. It depends on where the market is at that point. One thing I have found about Canada is that it is very underpopulated given the landmass. Outside of the 3 major cities, Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal, there are still lot land that are suitable to build houses. If you look at Edmonton for instance, between Edmonton and Leduc, you still have lot of land that houses could be built on despite all the developments made in recent years. Then there is still lot of land between Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan that could still be developed. It is not like UK/Europe, where land is a constraint. The point I'm trying to make is that with the land size, it is difficult to predict what would happen in 15 to 25 years when one might be looking to sell. Some of the old houses are knock down to build new ones. If the house is in a desirable area like River Valley in Edmonton and the lot size is big, a developer may pull the house down and build 2 to 4 houses on it. A lot goes into play. Given the increase in cost of heating and the temperature in Canada, people care a lot about how energy efficient a house is.

I hope I answer some of your questions.

jedisco:
That's surprising. I wonder if it's because the car-centric nature of most North American cities and the fact they are relatively much newer and planned out that way.
One would expect that older houses would be in more established parts of the city with good infrastructure connections and known communities as against new builds which would be on the outskirts with an evolving population.

If one buys a 30-60 yr old house, what's likely to happen in 15-25 yrs when one might be looking to sell? Would the age then be a negative factor? If so, wouldn't it make sense to factor that from the outset? Also, what happens to older houses.. are they all knocked down to build new ones?

In Europe, most cities evolved naturally over centuries and there is more focus on pedestrianisation meaning older houses are well located. They may not be as energy efficient but folks hardly care. Maybe its cos temperatures are not as cold but then, energy costs are higher
In fact, some older house are 'listed' meaning they have a protected status and can only be renovated in line with how they were originally built e.g sach windows, tatched roofs e.t.c. Its a pain in the a** yet folks stil buy them. What's even more surprising is that most of these (esp in cities) are in rows of similar appearing and conjoined houses but still retain their value. In Canada, it still surprises me how in many afeas, every house looks distinct.

Well, our love for short cuts and believe in some divine power will make fake visa agents to continue to scam us.

I once told someone to tell the agent that he has requested for GCMS note and notice how the facial expression of the agent will change.

amnotapervert:
Why do people treat fake visa agents like gods?
Paying huge money for a visitor visa you don’t even qualify for.

Maybe it’s the fake POF they sell you.
Or the false hope that asylum claims + visitor visas will somehow work.

I’ve seen the craziest cases.
And I’ll never stop calling out fake visa agents.

Too many people don’t know what they’re getting into.
And by then… it’s already too late. 🚫✈️

#VisaScam #NoToFakeAgents

Well, we learn each day. I stayed in the house for 9 years. The way I looked at it then was that I would still have had to pay rent to live somewhere if I didn't buy the place then. Now I advise people to steer clear of condos and row townhouses. They tend not to hold value.

After living in 3 provinces, I have noticed this too. The premium is huge. Reasons giving are that new homes are better insulated and have modern features. By the time you renovate an old one to have more modern features, the difference in price will not be that much. A new house will be easier to insure and the house will still be under warranty. It will be hard to market a 100 year old house in Canada. In many cases those houses will not be in a desired neighborhood. For me, I'm not after new ones. I live in a house built in 1990 at the moment. The same house would have cost nothing less than $100K more if the house is less than 5 year old. I had to get rid of the carpets in the house when I bought it since I hate the smell.

jedisco:
Lol... pele.
This is not even considering that your loss in real terms (i.e accounting for inflation) would be much more. If that money was in the st0ck market all this time, returns would be gallant without the additional stress. I'd steer clear of condos...never been my thing. I just see property as a tested means of diversification and the access to leverage being the cherry.

One thing I noticed in Canada is the high prenium for new builds. Two brokers I spoke to advised to avoid older houses. When I asked the timeframe of what they consider 'old', their answer shocked me. I wonder if it's the timber framing rather than traditional brick used here. In the UK, we consider anything newer that 2000- 2005 as 'new build' and while freshly built houses may still have some prenium, it's not uncommon to see people swear they'd never touch one. Infact, it's common to see a house proudly marketed as a 'Georgian terrace' or 'Victorian detached' with 'period' features. We're talking 100 yrs and above. They're called period properties with 'character'. Truth be said, some of them have a distinct and unmistakable feel.

I know many people doing buy to let. It's just not for me. I was forced to be a landlord when I needed a bigger place and couldn't sell my condo townhouse. I was barely break even after accounting for the carrying cost. For this townhouse, condo fees have more than triple compared to when I bought the place 16 years ago. I bought after 2008 financial when I thought prices were at the lowest possible. The property is currently on a rent to own program, I will be making no property gain, I am actually selling it at a loss. The only consolation is that my loss is less than my neighbor's who bought 2 years before me.

Do you wonder if the current market slump could present sensible opportunities longterm?
Possibly, but the question is that are we at the bottom yet? Also, some markets are not witnessing slump right now. It also depends on the property type. For instance, condos don't really hold their value over time. They tend to depreciate in the long term. There may be more opportunities in freehold townhouses, duplexes and single detached.

Getting a place with a large basement is always good but they come at a higher price. You will need a walkout basement. You also have to be comfortable with someone living in the same property as you all the time.

jedisco:
Interesting. It does. I know rental yeilds are regional and depend on house type but what does it average at for single family homes in general? Also, what are the main additional costs e.g safety checks, insurance e.t.c.
My thinking would be that if one can get yields of above 7% on a mortgage of 4% ish, then breaking even would be possible and over time, capital gains would do the heavy lifting profit wise while inflation erodes the debt. Do you wonder if the current market slump could present sensible opportunities longterm?

Thought abt renos in the past but I'm not strong on DIY. Also, I don't have the connection to handymen to facilitate it and putting the time in my reg job should pay better.

When looking to get a place, I was thinking of getting one with a legal basement so I could rent that out and ease my way into the property market from there.
I'm not traditionally as risk averse though I've become more careful with time as one has got older.

Really? So, they apply tax when you buy raw rice, chicken, beef, eggs, milk and other food items?

sirabbey:
But stores like Superstores, Freshco, Walmart, Costco apply tax on unprepared food items bought in their stores.

For buy to let in Canada, the return is not that great based on my own experience. I tried it by converting a primary residency to rental and was barely breaking even each month. If you find fixer upper house and you can do some of the renovating work yourself, you may be able to get a good deal.

For investment, like I mentioned I am very risk averse, I do index fund. I can't really recommend any good Canadian financial site.

I hope this helps a bit.

jedisco:
Fair points.

Finding a vehicle was an issue. I noticed autotrader was quite scanty and different from what I knew. Kept asking and it turns out many dealerships don't advertise on autotrader. Had to contact one directly. Same also insurance- never used a broker before but had to use one. Was always used to going online and seeking out the most competitive on a market-wide comparison site.

I'd look at the brokers you mentioned before the tax year end. Looking for a dependeable but competitively priced broker with a selection of global fvnd.

Regarding mortgages, I found the undue prenium on new houses surprising. Folks will consider a 20yr old house 'old'. Hehe. I'm trying to seek out a good area and hopefully take discussions forward with a broker over winter.

On investments, I'm seeking info on the buy-to-let sector in Canada. It appears the candaian hoising market is more commoditised and easier to navigate. It's the returns that aren't as clear. Understandably, this is localised.

Regarding pensions, the folk advising me wasnt keen on RRSP which I found odd.. Still looking into this.
Do you know of good canadian based financial sites that perhaps compare fees/offerings for pension managers, brokers e.t.c or explains the financial system in clear terms?

It is surprising that they will deny an 80 year old mother going to visit her daughter. She can look into getting a super visa. The visa allows her to stay in Canada up to 5 years.

Teslas:
Story on this this.

Reason stated for Mom -

• I am not satisfied that you will leave Canada at the end of your stay as required by paragraph 179(b) of the IRPR (https://laws lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2002-227/ section-179.html). I am refusing your application because you have not established that you will leave Canada, based on the following factors:

• The purpose of your visit to Canada is not consistent with a temporary stay given the details you have provided in your application.

• You have significant family ties in Canada.

Officer Decision Notes (ODN) -

These notes were entered by the officer who assessed and made the final decision on your
application.

• Upon review of the application, there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate socio-economic ties that will compel the applicant to return to their home country or country of residence. I also note that the applicant has significant family ties in Canada. Therefore, I am not satisfied that the purpose of their intended stay is justified or that their visit to Canada is temporary. Application refused.

Please Note: She has a valid US visa; this is her second visa, and she has travelled to the USA before. She is almost 80. She is coming to visit her daughter and grandchildren. She is retired and not working and didn't submit any bank statement, but her daughter has over 30 dollars in her account, and she included it all in the application. Her daughter is a PR holder. Letter of invitation from her daughter and all her documentation.

Sister—She is to accompany the mother to Canada

Reason stated for sister -

• I am not satisfied that you will leave Canada at the end of your stay as required by paragraph 179(b) of the IRPR (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2002-227/ section-179.html). I am refusing your application because you have not established that you will leave Canada, based on the following factors:

• The purpose of your visit to Canada is not consistent with a temporary stay given the details you have provided in your application.

• Your assets and financial situation are insufficient to support the stated purpose of travel for yourself (and any accompanying family member(s), if applicable).

• You have significant family ties in Canada.

Officer Decision Notes (ODN) -

These notes were entered by the officer who assessed and made the final decision on your application.

• The documentation provided by the applicant on their current employment activities or to prove ownership of the declared business is limited.
They have not shown that they are economically established and have sufficient socio-economic ties. Additionally, there is insufficient evidence to one, support the purpose of their travel to Canada; and two, demonstrate socio-economic ties that will compel the applicant to return to their home country or country of residence. I also note that the applicant has significant family ties in Canada. On balance, I am not satisfied that the purpose of their intended stay is justified or that their visit to Canada is temporary. Application refuse

Please Note That:
She submitted all the documents to support her application: All Educational certificates, ND, HND, BSC, and other professional certificates, All her employment certificates, offer letter, leave letters, promotion letters, introduction letter, , company ID Cards, Company Business Cards, letter of invitation from her sister and all her documentation. Letter of Explanation. Office- and work-related pictures.

She submitted her registered business too, tax of the business, and the CAC document too. Business ID Cards, Business cards for customer, invoices and all documents with pictures.

She submitted 3 properties and her ongoing warehouse constructions to expand her business and all payment-related information from the properties and highlighted them with a marker in her statement of account.

She submitted a bank statement of over 35 million with proven and clean records with payslips, money from properties, and income from her business. Her salary is 1.5m, and it comes with bonuses at times payable into her account.

She submitted her marriage certificates, birth certificate affidavits, letter of support and consent from the husband, Family Pictures with her immediate family and family pictures with her sister and her mom.

She submitted police report, document report, community letter from the leader, birth certificates showing both her own and her sister, she submitted conversation between her and her sister.

She has travel to Benin x 2, Ghana x 2, Togo and Gabon. She has refusal from UK and she declared it and explained the reason. she didnt apply to UK again as the reason she wanted to travel has past and there is not need for re-aplying when they didnt give her.

I would appreciate any guidance on how to navigate this. They are not planning to relocate and just want to visit. Thanks

You pay no taxes on rental accommodation. Same applies to unprepared food. If you buy food from restaurants, you pay taxes on the services.

Kenn55:
What do you mean by paying taxes on rent?

Some answers to your questions in italics.

jedisco:
Fair enough.. interestingly, the UK and US also posted job losses recently. This is to negate particular challenges Canada faces.
Every country does have challenges and economies do have peaks and troughs, however, conversations should be rounded


I agree, conversations should be very rounded. I will not discourage anyone to migrate to Canada. I will tell the risks involves which are both positives and negatives. It is left for the potential immigrant to decide.


As someone who moved recently, I've needed and would need help with certain bits e.g

-Where to find the right rental accommodation, source a vehicle, insurance e.t.c

This is based on where you live. Based on where I live in New Brunswick, the best place to find rental accommodation is Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji. This applies to finding a vehicle as well. Other sources are autotrader.ca and cargurus.ca. For vehicle insurance, look at if your employer or an association you belong to has a group rate. If not you can check with an insurance broker where you live, they may be able to make good recommendation for you.

-Tax efficient savings/investment accounts and how to maximise these annually

For tax efficient savings/investment looking into tax free savings account. The limit for 2025 is $7,000. I use Sunlife to manage mine since my employer uses that to manage pension contributions. You can look at Wealthsimple as well. You decide on how much risks you are willing to talk.


-How to go about purchasing my place down the line, mortgages e.t.c
One good advice I was given when I was about to buy my first house was never to fall in love with a certain house that will make me offer more than I am comfortable with. I will offer the same advice. For mortgages, reach out to a mortgage broker where you live. They will be able to offer you good advice on best mortgage rates and be able to guide you based on your objective.

-Investments one can explore
It depends on your level of risks. I am very risk averse and will not invest in risky assets. You can looking into GIS or Canada bonds.

-Pension planning as Canada does have a thinner safety net e.t.c

There is RRSP. The limit in current year is based on 18% of your earned income in the year before. The amount contributed to RRSP will reduce your personal income tax depending on your income level. You direct how you want to invest your RRSP. When it comes to investment, if the returns sounds too good to be true, they are mostly not real.

These obviously would differ from person to person and I still need help with many of these especially from those who've been here long enough. You then see why it becomes tiring when the overwhelming majority of discussions are focused on warning people not to come or driving some far-right narrative.

I have not told anybody not to come to Canada on nairaland.com and I will not. Canada has been very good to me and I won't tell anyone not to come to Canada. I came as a student for grad studies almost immediately after undergrad. I have not established any career and very open to what to do in Canada.

The issue is that we can all talk about what we face. There is no where on earth that is perfect.
Canada lost 66,000 jobs in August and unemployment rate increased to 7.1%. That's a reality and people need to voice it out. It doesn't mean that some people are not finding jobs but the number of people who lost job is more than those who find job. People need to be aware of such developments.

sanima770:
You said it all. This is exactly why many people choose to stay silent because the moment they share their struggles, they’re quickly labeled as ungrateful or negative , no matter the reality they face as immigrants.

This is very strange. Why is the visa valid beyond the conference date then if the person can't use the visa for other purposes.

princejeto:
This is not peculiar at all. Many people issued visas in the past are being denied boarding for one reason or the other. It is possible background information shows her conditions have changed or the purpose of the visa was time sensitive. There are several reasons why this happens. I know of a friend who was also recently denied boarding because he was given a visa to attend a conference and now he wanted to go on a visit with the same visa after missing the conference.