Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Retireing in canda?

Where is a good spot saw the big money post i am a roofer so the high dollar areas are no good we are looking into ont.ca but i do like the thought of saskatchs big deer.Tried to talk her in to yukon but no go i do love canadas vast wilderness .We looked north of ont.ca what mite you guys suggest.

You have so many choices. Northern ON has moose, good whitetail deer(but not compared to SK,AB,MB), black bear.One thing ON has going for it is that it is the second biggest province and it has vast areas in the North.

As you can see on the other thread, MB, SK, BC, YK have some of the best hunting/fishing in the World.

Another place with great hunting and is a cheap place to live is Newfoundland. There are no deer but is has the highest moose densities in NA, has huge black bears, and is the only place to get , what Boone and Crockett considers, Woodland Caribou. Also you can go to the mainland part of the province(Labrador) and get moose, BB, and Barren Ground Caribou.

The prairie provinces are a little easier on the wallet for living costs. Get ready for a climate change depending on the place you're leaving. The winters here are long and cold. Sask and Alberta are good, but Alberta is in a boom right now and the prices are a little steep for the average guy.

I have lived in NW Ontario all my life and love it here. The game is plentiful and the area is beautiful. Great fishing and hunting, but the winter can get a little tedious.

Northern Sask has mule deer for residents, whitetail, moose. No mulies in Ontario. Elk in Northern Manitoba. But ya can only hunt so much.

Medical services are a little spotty without traveling in some areas.

I love Canada, but I'm a patriot. It's a great country in which to live. On a retirement income, probably Manitoba or Saskatchewan. Have fun deciding.

I live in Alberta now, having moved from Saskatchewan 9 years ago. Depending on where you are now and the housing market in your area, Alberta could be out. Expect to pay close to half a million bucks for a decent acreage. Most of Northern Alberta is booming right now, with lots of towns having 70's trailers in a park going for over 200k. I'm currently 26 and building on an acreage that will be valued at over 500k (notice I didn't say worth that. It's an artificial market out here driven by shortages of housing and people buying real estate as an investment). I made some good real estate choices and have built up a lot of equity. All that equity makes me want to move back to Saskatchewan.

I grew up in Meadow Lake, SK. The land of big whitetails, black bears, moose, mule deer, geese, ducks, great fishing, and even some elk. House prices there are still relatively low. A three bedroom basic bungalow in town is under 150k with a decent lot. Acreages can be had in the mid-high 200's. I'm tempted to move back there now and be mortgage free. The economy is starting to improve as a spill over from Alberta. There is a good hospital there and things like a pool and nice parks. SK would be where I would retire. Anywhere along the boreal forest would be awesome. If you want to look at different housing prices across Canada check out the website www.mls.ca. They show all real estate agents listings by province and community.


SS

The WORST choice in Canada for retirement is B.C., very beautiful, high crime rate, HUGE living costs and a deteriorating medical care system with a lack of extended care beds and senior's facilities. BUT, we have "diversity" and streets blocked by parades of known terrorists and we have a government that is spending billions on Indians while ignoring our elderly and sick people.

So, if you have LOTS of money and LOVE having foreign gangs use your streets as a shooting gallery, why, retire here in "Lotus Land" and watch the exciting TV evening news....like the 56 year old lady just beaten almost to death by two thugs for her purse at a mass transit station, in broad daylight!

Yeah, B.C. is a GREAT place to retire!

You just want to keep northern BC to your self you old 'coot... Just kidding. You get up north a bit more and the situation isn't quite as bad. Smithers, Houston, etc.


SS

I would like to retire in Canada, maybe western Alberta in the foothills but in sight of the rockies.
Maybe about 80 acres with a modest cabin or trailer with lots of trees around breaking up the wind.
Put it on paved road frontage a few miles out of some small town with a doctor, grocery, bank and gas station.

You want that in Canada?


Sounds more like heaven to me.

I can think of a town or two like that here in Alberta. Might be a paved road close by. Not going to name the town but there is one just 3 1/2 hrs from where I am now. Thinking about migrating there next year so don't need the competition for property. lol

Saskatchewan is slowly becoming appreciated as a place to retire. We have VERY distict seasons, and so winter can be brutal ( learn to x-country ski and ice fish!) but 2/3 of the province is wild, public land, and we have more hunting opportunities than anywhere ( I AM biased!) We are one of the very few jurisidicitons where a hunter has the priveldge to hunt anywhere he likes on private land, as long as it is not posted and not within 500M of occupied buildings or livestock facilites. It's still polite to ask permission, and I encourage everyone to, but it's not legally required. Sure makes a trip more likely to be enjoyable and hassle free. Private hunting leases are not allowed. Game belongs to the public.
We have universal public health care, ( it was invented here!) and a very low crime rate once you're out of the cities. Our main social problem is the unfortunate situation with our aboriginal people, so I would not advise you to settle near a reserve. Housing prices are going up fast in Saskatoon, but are very reasonable in my small town, a decent 3 BR bungalow still sells for less than C$100,000. Farm yards are very cheap, because it is difficult to make a living farming, and some people are still moving off the land. The trick is to find a community close to good hunting and fishing of the kind you like and with enough of other economic base inputs besides farming. They do exist.
Besides our famous whitetails, we have a great variety of other game. You never hear about our fantastic elk, mule deer and antelope hunting, because they are for residents only. I have killed a bull elk every year for 11 years, except the year I skipped elk to hunt Mountain caribou in the Yukon. I have a resident herd of 10-30 Mule deer on my home place at all times. We have the best waterfowl hunting in North America, but a short season. Tons of upland birds in various habitats. 100,000 lakes and rivers to cast a line into. More than 50 established canoe routes, and extensive snowmobile trails. C'mon up, check us out!

How does that work for new immigrants? What is needed to be eligible?

You would probably have to have a turban on your head or be a refugee. Well maybe you can claim refugee status. Are you a democrat? I wonder why anyone would want to live up here when you can stay here probably only during the summer, since you wouldn't be able to handle the cold. Just come up to Canada and buy a little place and just go there in the summer/fall for hunting and then get the hell back to Texas before it hits -30./

I believe you have to become a citizen and then you're eligible. Its not exactly 'free' unless you find a job that has a medical plan. Otherwise you pay into the plan to be covered. Last time I checked it was like $60 a month.

Another thing about our "universal public health care" is that the wait times are long for certain types of treatment and this is the topic of a lot of discussion up here! I know a lady that needs knee replacement surgery for instance. She's been waiting to have it done for a year now. The big debate now is adding private health care to the system to help the waiting periods. Might sound like a no brainer but a lot of shrieking and moning comes from (mainly)the leftys that this would be the slippery slope that would privatize and therefore they say ruin our public health care system. So here we sit with a lot of discussion and arguement and growing wait times for certain surgerys/procedures...

I am sure the cold gets old going on for such a long winter, but it may turn out to be your biggest natural blessing.

It is as if the US southern border is non-existent in Houston for example, Hispanics are the official majority. It is not just a race, it is a whole change of culture. My favorite radio station has converted over to being an all spanish station, same for my favorite watering hole. It just keeps on creeping. The -30 is more likely to preserve your culture than any international border.

Yeah your right the Eskimos don't have immigration issues. Problem is that immigrants don't live in Eskimo lands they live in major urban areas that are warmer, but there is no hunting in cities so you won't like that. Well we will also be run over and displaced. Toronto is officially the first city in Canada that a white man is a minority and Vancouver is a close 2nd.

Toronto and Vancouver I had no idea, that is sad.

Even though I would be an immigrant, I have been to Alberta and feel like I could fit in. Edmonton reminds me of the way Houston used to feel and Calgary is a lot like Denver.

In BC try vanderhoof , Burns Lake,

Quote:
How does that work for new immigrants? What is needed to be eligible?
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Regarding eligibility for free health care, I took this from the Health Canada website: You need to legally residing in Saskatchewan, but do not need to be a Canadian citizen from what I can see......There is a LOT more information about this on the various gov't websites.

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Eligibility is limited to residents. A "resident" means a person who is legally entitled to remain in Canada, who makes his or her home and is ordinarily present in Saskatchewan, or any other person declared by the Lieutenant Governor-in-Council to be a resident. Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada relocating from within Canada to Saskatchewan are generally eligible for coverage on the first day of the third month of establishing residency in Saskatchewan.

Returning Canadian citizens, the families of returning members of the Canadian Forces, international students and international workers are eligible for coverage on establishing residency in Saskatchewan, provided that residency is established before the first day of the third month following their admittance to Canada.

The following persons are not eligible for insured health services in Saskatchewan:

members of the Canadian Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), federal inmates and refugee claimants;
visitors to the province; and
persons eligible for coverage from their home province or territory for the period of their stay in Saskatchewan (e.g. students and workers covered under temporary absence provisions from their home province or territory).
Such people become eligible for coverage as follows:

discharged members of the Canadian Forces and the RCMP, if stationed in or resident in Saskatchewan on their discharge date;
released federal inmates (this includes those prisoners who have completed their sentences in a federal penitentiary and those prisoners who have been granted parole and are living in the community); and
refugee claimants, on receiving Convention Refugee status (immigration documentation is required).

Thanks,that is good info.

Your obvious choice would be Alberta. The Big Game hunting we have here is uncomparable to Ontario or Newfoundland. Been there , done that, not even close IMHO. Saskatchewan might have an edge on bird hunting, and although SK is known as the Big Buck Province, I don't think the overall quality of hunting is as good as Alberta. No fishing so to speak of in SK either, unless you want to fly way up north and catch pike and lake trout once a year. Elk hunting in SK is available to residents, but it's only a drop in the bucket when compared to Alberta.

Another area you might want to look at is what is known as the Peace Country of British Columbia.

Land is not cheap either. Don't expect to find cheap land, it doesn't exist in Alberta or BC, but if you're willing to get off the beaten path, you could find a hell of a hunting sanctuary for yourself. And, SK is only a half days' drive away.

I love Saskatchewan and hunt there at least 2 weeks each and every year, and the people are the most friendly and interesting as they come. Fact is though, the hunting is more diverse in Alberta.