Canadians at Home in Vacation Spot
 Gary May - The Leader-Post
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| | People come for a visit, say 'I've got to move here,' and go home owning a house. | | |
Booking a winter vacation to Mexico is no longer a problem for Canadians Dan and Nisha Ferguson. They now live there full time.
The Fergusons marvel at how many others have done the same thing. They live in San Miguel de Allende, about 270 kilometres northwest of Mexico City, where an estimated 12,000 of the city's 65,000 residents are ex-pats, about 2,500 of them Canadian.
And every year the Fergusons hear of another family that has visited, only to return to Canada as new owners of Mexican property.
It's a bug that bites many a seasoned traveller: You've come upon a vacation spot you love so much, you hate to leave. Wouldn't it be great to live here, you say. No more Canadian winters.
Or maybe you're drawn by the chance to escape the rat race or to find a spot where your money goes further. But if you're a rational person with a mortgage, job, kids and a dog, you might hesitate to take the plunge.
Perhaps you've seen those books and TV programs in which pasty-faced people from northern climes rush off and buy their little place in the sun, only to have plans dashed by the realities of ownership restrictions, hurricanes, local building codes or falling property values.
So where do you turn?
For more than 25 years, International Living magazine and newsletter has offered advice to those who yearn to live, travel and invest overseas.
International Living was created on the premise that there are places more exotic, but less expensive, and where we can enjoy the same freedoms and standards of health care as in North America. The magazine's worldwide staff conducts an annual survey and produces a list of the best retirement havens.
In its most recent survey, conducted in 2007, Mexico tops the list, superseding Panama, which had been tops the previous six years. Ecuador placed No. 2 and Italy came third.
Statistics Canada estimates 2.7 million Canadians live outside the country, about eight per cent of our population. While many live in the United States, Canadians are increasingly opting for more exotic locales, such as Mexico, Spain, Italy, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
Many want a retirement destination; others seek business opportunities as private entrepreneurs, perhaps with an eye toward future retirement.
Dan and Nisha Ferguson fall into the latter category. Nisha is an Ottawa native and Dan is from Toronto. They have two children. When the Toronto property they used as a studio for their ceramic sculpting business was sold in the late 1990s, they began looking for something radically different.
Two unrelated contacts suggested San Miguel de Allende. Since 85 to 90 per cent of their works are exported to the United States, the Fergusons decided they would be just as well placed in Mexico as they were in Toronto.
Suzan Haskins is the Latin America editorial director for International Living and lives in Merida, Mexico. She says her chief piece of advice for anyone contemplating a move overseas is "do your homework."
Learn from International Living's and others' Web sites, she says. Decide what you're looking for: climate, surroundings, activities, health care, cost of living, property prices or ownership restrictions are common considerations. Then pay a visit and ask lots of questions.
If you're looking for an economical place to live, Haskins advises looking outside the traditional tourist centres.
Dan Ferguson, 42, urges a go-slow approach. The first thing he did was contact the Mexican consulate in Toronto to find out the rules for visitor visas and permanent residency, how the couple could transfer their personal and business possessions, and whether they could buy property.
The planning process took about a year. Things are done differently in Mexico so be prepared, warns Dan. The absurdity of the bureaucracy, the low-level corruption and the pace at which things are done, are favourite topics of conversation among expat "gringos."
The same goes for Spain, which has regularly finished high on International Living's list of retirement havens.
As in Spain, Mexico has companies that cater to people who want to move there, but don't know how to proceed. One such company in San Miguel is The Mexico Adviser, which offers direction on buying real estate, title searches and setting up a business. (See www.mexadv.com)
In addition, the Mexico tourism board offers occasional seminars, workshops and exhibits in Canada (usually in Toronto) for Canadians considering retirement or an extended stay in Mexico. Speakers discuss health care, taxes and savings, visa and residency issues, insurance and real estate.
David Agren is a Canadian journalist who works for an English-speaking newspaper in Mexico City. He agrees that Canadians should be aware of what he calls "petty corruption" when moving to Mexico. He says many people, including traffic police, are out for their mordida, or "the bite."
And, he admits, "the inconveniences of everyday life can drive you nuts, if you let them."
"I had no shower this morning because my building ran out of propane to heat the water. A couple of times last week, I had no water at all. The phones aren't always reliable and the mail routinely gets lost."
But in other ways, the quality of life is so alluring, many are drawn to move to Mexico, Agren adds. "People come for a visit, say 'I've got to move here,' and go home owning a house." |
Vallarta Weddings
Puerto Vallarta Real Estate | January 2008 
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