8-26-2020 – The Lure of Cape Breton

Now a word of caution . . . as much as our friends in the States might want to jump ship for the sanity of Canada, it’s no easier to legally move to Canada than it is to get a green card in the States. No one gets that Landed Resident card without getting the same personal, employment legal, financial, health once-over in triplicate. The bureaucrats are just wearing different uniforms.

So, though Canada may have been their vacation hideaway, Bob and Jay still couldn’t live here full time. They set about changing that. There are multiple options for building points for residency and citizenship if you are not related to someone who will sponsor you. Exploring these paths, Bob and Jay chose the community stream option. A master weaver, Jay received strong support from local and provincial artists but until they had legal residency, neither could stay here longer than six months of the year. This transition wasn’t easy but they were dogged in pursuing their dream, one that expanded to their children, who are also listed on their application so they, too, can have a path to citizenship if they want it. A back door is a good thing to have.

Jay and Bob at their oath-taking as Canadian citizens.

For the equally dogged dreamers among you, here’s their timeline to citizenship:

• 1982 – they started coming here on vacation

• 1995 – they bought this house in Southwest Margaree

• 2006 – they applied for Landed Residency (Green Card)

• 2007 – they became legal residents

• August 2013 – they were granted Canadian Citizenship

• July 1, 2015, on Canada Day at Fort Louisbourg, they both took the public oath as Canadian citizens.

By no means was this a short, easy or inexpensive process and there was no guarantee of acceptance at any point. I’ve spoken with a Canadian immigration officer. That first application for landed residency is long and complicated and there are many many forms to fill out. She advised us to take our time and get all the pieces in order and triple check them before mailing in anything. Keep extra copies, she said. Write down everything you tell them. Why? Because if you are missing ONE tiny part of one form, you go to the end of the line – 18 months long a few years ago and probably longer now. And if you answer a new person differently (a year later – imagine that) than the previous person documented, now suddenly you are shady. Document everything.

Yes, this seems like a magical place, an escape from the ugliness of American life, but Cape Breton is not a quick fix and Americans cannot run away from our problems – we need to solve them. And, like everything else worth having, living here takes commitment and hard work and ultimately, a willingness to live through the long Cape Breton winter.

Most visitors come for the glorious but short summer. Winters can be extraordinarily windy, dark, cold, and long, and the sun may not shine for days or even weeks. The upside for winter is that’s when the islanders PARTY. Crops and the fishing boats are in, tourists are gone and it’s time to get together, though I have no idea what will happen in this plague year. For a come-from-away like me, staying through the winter gives you more credibility with permanent residents. Winter doesn’t end until April and sometimes May (just in time for the black flies to arrive), so you understand, this idyll is not all beaches, golf, scenery, and blueberries.

To become a citizen, it takes a willingness to accept that Canada is worthy of your heart and even more, that if you are lucky, you are deemed worthy of being a Canadian. Am I talking you out of it? I hope not but Cape Breton isn’t just a retreat for stressed-out Americans. It’s an island in Nova Scotia with real people and I’m grateful for the chance to join them – even part time. Of course, it helps that I play the fiddle, too!