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[merylsilverburg]

This question is for the Canadian members on this forum (and also to anyone else who knows). One of my cousin's from Taiwan wants to move to Canada and there's a few questions he wants to know:

1) What are the requirements/policies of getting a Canadian citizenship?

2) How soon can a person get it?

3) How is life in Canada, overall?

4) Is there a stong Asian community over in Canada and which part? (If any of guys don't know this question, it's not a problem, he just wants to know if there's a nice place where he can settle there)

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me out.

[Harry]

Interesting questions... I know Canada ia wonderful place to live in. Maybe JJ can give you some answer.

I have a couple of very useful links that should help you!

Becoming a Canadian Citizen

Asian Canadian Community

[merylsilverburg]

Thanks so much for the links Harry! They were very helpful...it seems my cousin might have a bit of a problem though, since he doesn't know how to speak English well. But, we'll find a way. Thanks again!

[jjmoohead]

Yes thanks harry, those were the links i was going to provide. Most of your information is in there.

To answer about the ethnic question...Canada is the most culturaly diverse country in the world. Its actually in the world book of knowledge

You will find asians almost everywhere. However if you want alittle more help with that I will suggest Toronto and Vancouver. Of course those are the 2 most well known cities in canada which is probably why most people that come to canada migrate that way. Vancouver is probably the better of the two, I dont live in either city so i cant be forsure but from my knowledge of the land I am pretty sure I am correct.

Just make sure your friend knows just how large canada is. I mean Toronto to Vancouver is a 3 day drive and a boring drive...Its all flat farm you go from beautiful mountains to amazingly flat land for the next 18 hours or so of driving. Then you go threw the canada shield, which is basically milies and milies of rock. Very Boring, although very pretty if you go at the right time of year. I am pretty sure citizenship does take some time, maybe 2 years...check the links...but i know you are required to take a test. Like Who was the first Prime Minister of Canada - of course that being John A. McDonald.

Anyway I say Vancouver...but in most large cities you will find a large contingent of asian people. As for the language...maybe take a english as a second language course...most countries have them, often usa and canada send people over to teach it. Otherwise, travel with someone who knows a little and im sure you will be more then ok once you get to a city like Vancouver.

Hope that helped

[Reid]

Sorry, this is a really late response and I hope this is still a little bit useful to you.

Like jj said, Canada is incredible culturally diverse and he was right about big cities like Toronto and Vancouver. It depends on what country your cousin is from. While in Vancouver there is a stronger Japanese population, Toronto has a very large Korean and Chinese population (not to say other Asian cultures aren't represented as well). I know more about Toronto because I live right outside of it and spend a decent amount of time there.

Also, considering smaller cities is also not a bad idea. Cities like Waterloo (about an hour outside Toronto) have a very large Asian population and it's similar in many surrounding cities.

Concerning immigration laws, I won't try to answer because I don't think I have enough concrete information to answer with a whole lot of accuracy.

Canada is a very nice place to live for the most part also. Having been born and raised inside the country I probably have a degree of bias but it is a very beautiful country with many sorts of different landscapes and a huge degree of variety geographically and culturally.

Anyway . . . I hope that helps somewhat.

[merylsilverburg]

Thanks Reid and JJ (I meant to thank JJ earlier, but I forgot ). My cousin is from Taiwan, so he'd probably fit in with the Toronto group (Chinese is probably closest, though not really, since Taiwanese and Chinese are different). Right now my cousin is being delayed due to some problems at his work, so I don't know when and if he is actually gonna move over there.

But thanks again to all of you.

[Piggle_humsy]

This thread is so interesting!
You guys definitely made me wanna move there!
But I don't think I'd pass the test!

Piggle
x x x x

[jjmoohead]

Lucky for you piggle, being in England and being apart of the Comonwealth you will have no problem going to Canada. Sure the test is a test and all but not something you have to do. Just if you want the benifits of citizenship. Best part for you piggle...£ to canadian $ is 2.4 so you could save up about £10,000 and be sitting very nice at home with your $24,000, enough for a down payment on a car and a house, if you live in the small cities.