Six Common Sense of Canadian Immigrant Life

# Canada Immigration # Introduction Behind the high welfare in Europe and America is the high tax for all. Many people think that only Canadian immigrants or citizens need to file tax returns. Actually, it's not. As long as you live in Canada and have salary income, interest income from banks and investment income from stocks and real estate, you need to file tax returns before you can enjoy various benefits. The following are six common senses of Canadian immigrant life compiled by KaoNet. Welcome to read!

1. Six Common Sense of Canadian Immigrant Life

The communication between strangers in Canada is generally harmonious and enthusiastic. So strangers usually smile or nod and wave. When they meet for the first time, Canadians usually shake hands and introduce themselves. When talking one-on-one, look each other in the eye.

Step 2 travel by bus

It is necessary to buy a car, but in general cities, buses can reach most places. General bus 2, 3 yuan. If you have a student ID card, you can generally get a student ticket and take the bus once a month. Monthly tickets are generally divided into several price levels, and the price level is related to the range of your ride. When taking a bus, it is often necessary to press "Stop" or pull the yellow line near the window to remind the driver that someone has to get off at the next stop before they can get off. Under normal circumstances, if there is no one waiting for the bus at the next stop and the passengers do not remind the driver, then the station will pass through the station without stopping.

If you go out by bike, you should pay attention to local laws and regulations. Some places in Canada have some regulations on cycling, such as wearing a helmet and riding with lights at night. Be sure to look at the traffic lights when crossing the road. There are many pedestrian traffic lights in Canada that can be controlled manually. Press the button and the light will change.

Step 3 tip habits

When the waiter serves you in a restaurant, such as eating, having a haircut or taking a taxi, you usually need to give some extra tips when you check out. The amount of the tip is usually 10%- 15% of the pre-tax consumption. Generally, when tipping, you don't give many coins, because it's polite. Canada has regulations on the use of coins. If you pay in nickels, any seller can refuse to exceed 5 Canadian dollars, and the upper limit of 1 Canadian dollars is 25 Canadian dollars.

4. Customs and taboos

Most indigenous Canadians believe in Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, while some believe in Christianity and Orthodox Christianity. Some Canadians taboo "13", just as many China people taboo "4". In addition, in principle, when you are new here, you should talk less about ice hockey with Canadian natives. Ice hockey is equivalent to Canada's national game. Many Canadian natives are ice hockey enthusiasts and have their own teams or players. If you inadvertently tease a team or player, it is easy to cause dissatisfaction among Canadians around you.

5. Security contacts

Generally speaking, Canada is a relatively safe country. Before departure, new immigrants and international students should know the telephone numbers of the International Student Office, the Chinese Embassy in Canada and the local Consulate General. After you formally settle down, you should go to the embassy of China and the international students' office of the school for the record, leave your contact information, they will try their best to provide you with help and consultation, and you can contact them at any time if you have any problems. Leave the contact information of the corresponding teacher after school. In addition, you should pay attention to the contact information between the local police station and the hospital as soon as possible.

6. Knowledge welfare

The price of books in Canada is relatively high, and the price of textbooks used in schools is also relatively high. However, there is not only a big library in every city in Canada, but also a small library in almost every community center. There are not only books in the library, but also a large number of latest periodicals and magazines and a large number of audio-visual products such as CDs and DVDs. And there are generally many Chinese books and materials for Chinese people to use.

2. Common sense of Canadian immigrants' tax returns

As long as you live in Canada and have salary income, bank interest income and investment income in stocks and real estate, you need to file tax returns. If you have just immigrated to Canada and still have no income, or the income is lower than the government subsidy, the government also encourages you to file tax returns, because any Canadian resident must apply for a refund of federal sales tax and provincial sales tax, and those who have no income may get a GST refund.

In particular, new immigrants must file tax returns. Even if there is little or no income, you should report it. Because buying a house, spending money, having children, etc. can be refunded. And the tax bill returned by the government is an important text for your residence record, applying for children's milk money and domestic relatives' guarantee.

In addition, families applying for child welfare and supplementary funds, also known as milk money, should also file tax returns, because the government determines the amount of milk money for the next year according to your tax payment this year. The tax return can also be used to deduct the tuition fees you paid for studying in Canada from your normal income next year. The tax return of that year is also the necessary supporting document for your application.

According to the regulations recently revised by the Canadian Immigration Department, those who request to renew the Maple Leaf Card must attach tax receipts for any two years in the last five years as proof of residence. However, many permanent residents who apply to become "non-tax residents" and live overseas with their spouses with citizenship are worried that they will be returned when they renew their maple leaf cards because they have not filed tax returns. In response to enquiries, the Immigration Department said that written explanations should be provided and would still be accepted.

According to the latest application instructions issued by the Canadian Immigration Department, the photocopies of documents required for the replacement of Maple Leaf Card include: the old card; Passport or travel document; Two kinds of identification documents, such as immigration paper, driver's license, student ID card, etc. Other residence documents, including copies of all passport pages, and any biennial personal income tax forms approved by the tax bureau in the last five years.

The website of the Immigration Department particularly emphasizes that irregular documents will be returned. For most applicants, as long as they have lived in China for more than two years in the past five years, it is not a big problem to complete these documents. Applicants who become "non-tax residents" are naturally unable to obtain the tax bill issued by the tax bureau because they do not need to file tax returns in Canada, and are afraid of being returned.

According to the regulations, a permanent resident must live in China for two years within five years before he can renew his Maple Leaf Card, but if his spouse with citizenship lives overseas, this restriction is not applicable.

Unlike China, the consumption tax in China has been added to the product cost, so the price we see is the actual price paid. However, the consumption tax in Canada needs to be levied at the time of consumption, which means that the reference or service price we see is not the price we actually pay, but needs to add GST and PST to the existing price.

Canada's GST has the same collection scope in the whole country, which is 7%; PST varies from province to province. For example, the PST in BC is 5% (7.5% in previous years), while Alberta is tax-free.

Of course, the consumption tax does not include taxes on basic foods, such as grains, fresh meat, fruits, vegetables and milk. But if these foods are processed and packaged, such as roasted chicken legs and salads, they need to be taxed because they are considered to have added value.

3. Canadian immigration knowledge points

I. Permanent resident status

Regardless of the applicant's age, if he intends to apply for naturalization, he must have legal permanent resident status in Canada, that is, he must have a PR maple leaf card. One thing should be noted: even after the legally obtained maple leaf card expires, the applicant can still apply for naturalization.

Second, the length of residence in Canada.

Regardless of the age of the applicant, the applicant must have actually lived in Canada for at least three years in the five years before the date of submitting the naturalization application. In addition, before the applicant becomes a permanent resident of Canada, the time spent in Canada as a temporary resident or a protected person can be converted into 50% of the residence time, and the longest time can be converted into 1 year. In other words, international students who have completed their studies in Canada are eligible to apply for naturalization as long as they have lived in Canada for two years after obtaining a maple leaf card.

Three. Personal income tax declaration

Regardless of the age of the applicant, according to the requirements of the income tax law, all or part of the individual income tax declaration obligations must be completed within five years and three tax years before the date of applying for naturalization.

Fourth, language requirements.

To become a Canadian citizen, the applicant must be able to listen and speak in either of the two official Canadian languages (English and French). The naturalization interviewer will judge the applicant's language listening and speaking level through the interview and finally decide whether to approve the applicant's naturalization as a Canadian citizen.

Verb (short for verb) Know Canada.

To become a Canadian citizen, applicants need to take a naturalization test to meet the knowledge level requirements of Canadian citizens. The applicant will answer a total of 20 questions in the test, covering Canada's history and political system, etc.