Am/Can dual citizen with residence question

[Adler]

I am a dual American/Canadian citizen, born in the U.S. and always lived here. I became a Canadian citizen under the "Lost Canadians" change of 2009 (one of my parents was Canadian-born) and went through the paperwork to obtain my Canadian citizenship card.

My question is what I would have to do to become a Canadian resident? Is it as simple as moving there, since I have my citizenship card? Would I have to take a test? My passport is American and my spouse is American only. We are both retired so we would not be seeking employment. Thank you.

 

[Rob_TO]

I am a dual American/Canadian citizen, born in the U.S. and always lived here. I became a Canadian citizen under the "Lost Canadians" change of 2009 (one of my parents was Canadian-born) and went through the paperwork to obtain my Canadian citizenship card.

My question is what I would have to do to become a Canadian resident? Is it as simple as moving there, since I have my citizenship card? Would I have to take a test? My passport is American and my spouse is American only. We are both retired so we would not be seeking employment. Thank you.

Since you're a citizen then all you would need is proof of your citizenship and you can simply move here anytime you want.

Your spouse though can not. You would need to sponsor them for PR status first, and only after getting approved can they also move here permanently. Until they have PR status, non-Canadians can only enter Canada as "visitors", not move here. When crossing the border if CBSA thinks an American is trying to move to Canada before being a PR, they can deny entry. Once in Canada some people manage to stay here quite a while by continually extending their visitor status.

 

[Adler]

Thank you, Rob! Very much appreciated.