"I think Canada realizes illegals negatively impact their social programs. You cannot get landed immigrant status in Canada unless you can prove you can support yourself and won't wind up on social services."
I remember reading a year or 2 ago that Canada would take any aliens in who said they were seeking asylum and didn't do background checks. This was a concern for us as they could then easily come across our border.
BTW - while you were talking about illegals, don't we have a law on the books, or IIRC we used to have one anyway, that says that a legal alien must have a sponsor and show that they can support themselves?
On an immigrant visa, absolutely. I had to sign my life away for my wife's fiancee visa. I committed that if she ever took public benefits for five years past her arrival, I was on the hook and signed a waiver of collection information for that money. It's a standard form. I have a sneaking hunch it's not being enforced. But it's on the books. That's something which needs to be computerized.
I don't know if we have the law on the books but it doesn't appear we enforce it if in fact it still exists.
Canada will take people seeking asylum if they can prove they will suffer if sent back to their country of origin. However, they have really tightened up their immigration rules over the last year or two.
We have a home in Nova Scotia and, though we would like to eventually retire there, we will still have to maintain a residence in the US because we wouldn't be allowed to stay there all year round. Mind you, I have no intention of giving up my American citizenship, I just love the sea and Nova Scotia is still very reasonable when it comes to land on the water. We bought our house 18 years ago. It was cheaper than my used Ford Focus.