Glad you found it. To date, they are not offering other than the usual basket of US based exchanges and the related ADRs (that's how I buy the Cdn stocks). There are other brokerage firms overseas _Internax in Luxemburg is connected to TD and offers all the Euro and London exchanges and in Hong Kong there's an online trader (can't remember the name at the moment. However, the reason I moved from Internax were the commissions. Trades worked out to be around $30 per so compared with $7 per, Scottrade is a good deal. I have no complaints with the service that Scottrade offers (however, they don't offer mutual funds through their international service so I use ETFs when I want something in that realm). Since finding Scottrade I've not really looked further but I do keep my eyes open when something catches my eye like the brokerage firm in Hong Kong. So, if you like doing your own thing, as I do, Scottrade is fine. [Their Scottrade Elite is a nice research platform too (for accounts over $25000)].

As a resident of China, I was able to open an account with Scottrade from Shanghai. I did not have to be in China. I believe they are allowed to offer accounts to residents of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. If you go to their website, they should have the details www.scottrade.com.

Gotta love those Nelson hot springs - we were in Creston for one year a looooonnnggg time ago.

Don't sweat the non-residency thing. Once you get your NR status you're good to go. If you are unsure what to cut ties with what not to - I'd be glad to help you out (did you read all the posts on the other discussion thread?). Most accountants have no hands on experience. When we were first planning to go - back in '97 - I applied and rec'd NR status on my own then I went to see an accountant (expensive $$) in Vancouver who basically said the work was done. We kept our house for five more years and rented to some teacher friends but in the end sold it as we did not see ourselves returning to the area (Keremeos) and I did not enjoy filing the tax returns and managing the property from afar. Once you rid yourself of your home you don't really have to worry about taxes anymore. I do plan to 'plan' my repatriation with a professional accountant before actually returning to Canada - however, we have no plans for that in the near future.

What school did you sign with?

Beenthere (looks like you're actually "going there" : )

Do a search for the following thread that has already been discussed:

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 2:28 am Post subject: TAX CANADA

As to the "How much stuff do we have there?" - We have a 10 X 20 storage unit in Penticton that has a house full of stuff - it's been sitting there waiting for us for the past ten years - who'd have thought? haha

To Mothball: Interesting moniker!

The 10% withholding tax is applied to all interest or dividend payments. There are no capital gains taxes at all. Sometimes the withholding tax is more or there are some small extra fees for ADRs (Foreign Company Holdings - American Depository Receipts) or with REITS.

Hope that helps,

Dave

1. Just say that you unsure when you'll return to Canada. As long as you plan to be out a couple of years then non-residency is not a problem. (If you want to pay the bucks, then a tax - accountant will file for you but they charge $150/hour and up).

2. You can have your money sent wherever you want. I have an account in B.C., an account with USBank in the states and one here in town. I just tell the business office where I want my pay to be wired each month.

3. When you plan to repatriate you will need to sell all of your offshore investments to avoid Canadian tax on world income from the date of purchase. Then you simply bring the money into Canada with you (you shouldn't have any problem with that (but as we've been out for so long, when we do decide to retire and return then I'll hire an accountant who works with expats and repatriate issues.) If you're only out a few years then no worries.

4. I haven't filed a general tax return since our last year in Canada. We did file while we had the house leased out but we have since sold that and now do not need to file at all.

5. Healthcare: When you do repatriate it will take a few months of living in one of the provinces to have healthcare kick in again. You will need to go to your healthcare provider that you're currently with and personally buy additional coverage to bridge the gap. Be sure you carefully look at this every time you move to a new international school as you do not want a gap in coverage to occur between the time your present coverage stops and your new school's coverage begins.

6. Credit rating: the main problem was that they only check back about six years and we've been out of the country for ten years. Were we back in Canada I think we may be able to pay for archived materials but trying to arrange things from here with no current Canadian address attached to our credit left us off their radar.

Good luck eh and no problem, we Canucks need to stick together

It appears that you haven't established non-residency status in Canada so you are liable for all world income that you've earned while away. I have no idea how they would 'catch' you for your time away before that you didn't file but that is the tax law as I know it. We did complete the determination of residency form before leaving Canada and received non-resident status on first application. It wasn't hard. They will be looking to see that you have cut all 'significant' ties to Canada. If you own a house, you need to lease it at 'arms length' and file a annual tax return and you'll forfeit your healthcare so be sure your international school has a good plan before signing. I have maintained my membership with the BC College of Teachers, have kept my driver's license (but use my sister's address on the card), I have an account wtih CIBC (but you need to let them know you are a non-resident so that they can deduct the necessary withholding tax on interest), and I have an Aerogold credit card with CIBC.

We tried to buy some rental property in Waterloo, Ont. this summer but ran into significant hurdles to getting a mortgage. There is no record of a credit history for us - combine that with being China residents, they gave up trying to get us a loan. Investment through Cdn sources is taxed at 25%.

Hope that helps.

Hi, we've been out of Canada coming up to ten years now and all that's been said so far is accurate. Here are a few more things:
Credit Rating: I just found out that we have no credit rating even though we paid off two houses and held numerous credit cards and lines of credit over the years. If you can lease your home at arms length and keep the mortgage payments etc. going then that helps a lot when you try to get another mortgage at a later date.
Investments: We're in China now and were able to set up a brokerage account with Scottrade in the U.S. - there is only a 10% withholding tax rather than 25% in Canada.

That's about it - enjoy life overseas.