Journey of a Trump Refugee
El Viaje de un Refugiado de Trump
Le Voyage d'un Réfugié de Trump

A lot of people ask me this question or ask this question in WhatsApp or Facebook groups I am in. The short answer is no. Although I am in Canada, the last few months have been emotionally trying for me with all the events and shenanigans in the United States. After seeing the news of Trump's defeat and listening to Biden and Harris' first speech after their victory tonight, I feel more relieved than I have been in 4 years. I feel a burden has been lifted from my shoulders. I think Biden and Harris gave a very inspiring and moving speech, and I can glean a ray of hope for the United States and the whole world. So, will I move back to US? No, absolutely not. Despite the very good news and Trump as my initial reason to emigrate to Canada, the reality that devastated me 4 years ago still remains the reality today: the United States is no longer a melting pot and land of equal opportunity. 71 million people, which make up almost 50% of the voters, voted for Trump, even though

Bonjour/bonsoir a tout le monde! Je n'ai pas écrit depuis longtemps car j'ai été très occupé et préoccupé avec la vie quotidienne, mais j'ai besoin d'écrire ce soir, parce que nous sommes dans le soir de l'élection présidentielle. C'est une occasion très importante pour moi parce que la précédente élection présidentielle en 2016 - il y a déjà 4 ans - a marqué le début de mon parcours au Canada, du reste de ma vie. Cette nuit-là il y a 4 ans reste vive dans mon souvenir. J'étais scotché à mon ordinateur pendant toute la nuit, regardant toutes les actualités, chaque mise à jour avec inquiétude, et bavardant avec quelques amis, y compris mon meilleur ami dans un autre état, un ami au Royaume-Uni, et quelques amis occasionnels. Après que Trump a remporté état pivot après état pivot, j'avais très mal au ventre, je sentais une boule dans ma gorge, et j'étais au-delà des mots. Je ne pouvais que répéter en transe les mots "c'est terrible, c'est

Introduction July 1, 2019. Happy Canada Day! I had hoped to put out this tax guide by June 15 to coincide with the US tax return due date for US persons living abroad , but I had just finished setting up my 2019 tax workpapers and calculating my 2019 estimated tax for Canada and the US and paid Q2 estimated taxes (called Instalments in Canada) just in time, and uh, the time has been passing me by as it often does. So, this will be my Canada Day gift to you all. I have spent most of this Canada Day weekend writing up this guide. Better than last year's Canada Day weekend, which was entirely spent doing a long take-home assignment for a job I was interviewing for and eventually did not get. Hmmpfffffff. But I have more peace of mind now, after sorting out and writing about tax matters that are relevant to me. I took my time to research, think about, and set up workpapers for my 2019 taxes. For the 2019 tax year, besides the normal wage income, I have interest income from a num

28 mai 2019. Aujourd'hui est mon premier anniversaire de devenir résident permanent et déménager au Canada. Le temps passe trop vite. Cela a été une année d'installation très occupée, plus de travail que je m'avais attendu, mais j'aime bien le Canada et j'ai hâte de l'avenir. Au début, j'ai déménagé au Toronto avec l'intention d'y m'installer. J'ai loué une chambre dans le sous-sol dans une maison bon marché mais dans un quartier très incommode, ennuyeux, et loin du centre ville. En plus de la planification de finance et d'impôt, qui est  très compliquée pour un citoyen des États-Unis et a passé beaucoup de temps, j'avais l'intention d'acheter une maison dans un endroit plus commode, plus près du centre ville, pour habiter et louer des chambres pour réaliser un investissement pas mal. Malheureusement je suis arrivé trop tard pour trouver un bon investissement d'immobilier à Toronto. Le prix est trop cher par rapport au

I have been laying low these days while I focus on my next step of moving to Ottawa. Yes, for business and lifestyle reasons, I have decided to move to Ottawa with a target date of some time in 2019. That is a wide range, of 365 days, but I am working on it. For this next step, I need to find acceptable real estate and employment in Ottawa and improve my French as much as possible. Why Ottawa? First, for better real estate investment opportunities. I am a buy and hold real estate investor. Real estate is one important part of my investment portfolio. In Toronto, real estate prices have shot up in the past decade, especially in the last 3-5 years, and are currently at dangerous bubble levels, so I have missed the opportunity for large capital appreciation. Most importantly, although rents have gone up a lot in recent years, they are still very low relative to property prices, so between collecting little rent and likely no capital appreciation in the next few years, Toronto is not a g

More and more of the friends I have made from Canadian immigration whatsapp groups are landing and/or moving over these days! Here are my pointers on what to do in the first days after landing. Note that some of this is Toronto-specific but hopefully will still be helpful for those settling elsewhere. Quarantine - COVID-19 update  as of November 2020 The COVID-19 situation changes constantly; check this page for the travel situation , this  page for current updates and announcements , a comprehensive page of links to governmental resources and updates . As of November 2020, anyone arriving in Canada from outside the country must quarantine for 14 days . Be sure to plan for your quarantine ahead of time. You will need to stay in your lodging the entire time; you are not allowed to go out even to get food or take a walk. When you arrive at the airport, you will be asked specifics about your plans for quarantine and where you will be staying. Many people have also been called one or more

TD Bank is a great resource for US expatriates and anyone living in Canada who has a nontrivial amount of US dollars. Some people have asked me specifics about accounts at TD Bank, so I decided to write this post. I have the following accounts with TD: TD Canada U.S. Daily Interest Chequing Account TD US TD Convenience Checking TD Preferred Savings with Rate Bump The Details TD Canada Two US currency account choices are available: The U.S. Daily Interest Chequing Account officially has no minimum balance, but a minimum balance of $1500 is needed to avoid being charged a fee of $1.25 per transaction. The Borderless Plan requires a $3000 minimum balance to avoid monthly fee. Additional perks include free bank drafts and better exchange rates, but the exchange rates are still very bad compared to those of the currency exchange companies described in my other post , so I don't care about the better exchange rates. TD US I like TD Convenience Checking

Hello, friends! I know I have been silent here lately. I am still alive and kicking and loving Canada, but I have been busy and am also still trying to keep a low profile for now as I get better established here. My current focus is on finding my next investments, one of which I had been hoping would be real estate here in Toronto, but I might revise that plan. Recently I also started a contract job and am trying to finish an online French class before I begin offline French classes in September. And of course, I am trying to meet more people here whenever I have the chance. Stay tuned for more developments in the upcoming months. I spent way too much time researching bank accounts and currency exchange in Canada and wrote reviews and shared and revised them in too many places as other newcomers have asked for tips on these topics. Finally I just got around to putting them all in one place to refer to and share with other newcomers, so in the meantime, I share my reviews of bank ac

Summary Updated November 2020: I have opened accounts with the following banks so far: BMO - first year free of monthly fees for newcomers. Builder savings account with decent interest rates. https://www.bmo.com/main/personal/newcomers-to-canada/ HSBC - first year free of monthly fees for newcomers, $500 cash bonus for depositing $10,000 and signing up for online banking within a month. Message me to get an additional $100 refer a friend bonus. http://www.hsbc.ca/celebrate Tangerine - online bank. Savings account gives 2.75% 2.5% 2.15% (as of November 2020) interest for the first 6 months and 1.2% 0.2% 0.15% (as of November 2020) after. No fee chequing account . Use my referral code 53568186S1 to get an additional $50 signup bonus. https://www.tangerine.ca/en/products/saving/savings-accounts/ EQ Bank - online savings account with an ongoing 2.3% 1.7% 1.5% (as of November 2020) interest rate, but you cannot keep more than $200,000 in the account. Free Electro