# Can C$200,000 investment make a living for 7 persons?



## eggroup (Mar 29, 2011)

Hi everybody,

I am a new immigrant to Canada with my family -the self-employed category- I am from Egypt, and I managed to transfer about C$200,000 to my bank account in Canada before the Egyptian Revolution.

The rest of my money is still in real-estate business in Egypt, and becuase of the current circumstances, I cannot sell it easily.

I want to move to Canada this summer, and hence my question:

*Can C$200,000 make a living for my family with 5 children?*

My primary business in Egypt was Land Subdivision.

Your comments will be appreciated.

Thanks all.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

I'm sure you and your family could live for several years on that amount of money - but only if you spend the capital. There is no way you could generate enough income to live on.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

You and your spouse would need to get to work ASAP as soon as you get here. Here is what I would do:

-$50K to a house downpayment
-$25K for moving, setup expenses plus a family car
-your incomes would make the mortgage, tax, food pmts
-the rest would be there to bridge any financial gaps not covered by the above as well as to have a nest egg in case of it taking a long time for one spouse to get work

There is no way a family of 5 could live off the investment income from $200K. Nowhere close to it.

Of course, this is only one suggestion. There are many ways you could do it and the above presumes the bank would give you a $250K mortgage

And please don't move to the GTA or Vancouver. There is so much more to Canada than those two cities. The quality of life for immigrants or anyone in those cities isn't that great, there's no parking, too much traffic and pollution, housing is way overpriced, lineups and smog everywhere etc. If you are coming here for a better life, consider small towns or at least smaller cities. There is no law that says all immigrants have to go to GTA or Vancouver.

All my opinions. Flame away. I have broad shoulders.


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## hypo (Aug 11, 2010)

200,000$ will not get you far. Unless you have a job lined up, don't live in Vancouver as the cost of real estate will kill you. Look into moving into Alberta as there are lots of jobs related to the oil industry and low taxes.


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## slacker (Mar 8, 2010)

You will not be able to live off of $200,000 indefinitely in Canada. If you live in the major cities, it's more expensive and you'll run out of money faster. But there are more jobs and opportunities in the city too. If you live in small towns, the living expense is much lower, but there tend to be less jobs there.

Hey, Egyptians rock !!


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## eggroup (Mar 29, 2011)

Thanks a lot for all your replies folks.

Actually my immigration is in Quebec province, and I will manage to live in Montreal suburban region maybe in west island.

It's obvious from your replies that investment of C$200,000 will not do for a family of 7 members, however this brought another question:

*How many dollars I need in a month to make a living in a rented house in DDO for instance with children in governmental schools, and with a used car at the beginning, to leave it to my elder son later on when things get well?*

I always prefer to go with the worst-case scenario, so I imagine I wouldn't find a job in my career especially because I am 47 now, and I will manage to live with this amount of money until I can bring the rest from Egypt, so if I can have a figure for monthly costs, I can calculate how many months this money will give me in Canada.

Thanks all.


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## hypo (Aug 11, 2010)

eggroup said:


> Thanks a lot for all your replies folks.
> 
> *How many dollars I need in a month to make a living in a rented house in DDO for instance with children in governmental schools, and with a used car at the beginning, to leave it to my elder son later on when things get well?*
> 
> Thanks all.


Rent really depends on what neighborhood you are in and what level of accommodations you are willing to put up with. I'd take a guess at ~1500$ a month. 

In Canada, public schools and healthcare are paid for by taxes so it is free. For a used car, go to the library, and find a magazine called "Consumer Reports". They are a magazine that rates product quality. Look for the issue
that deals with used cars (ask the librarian if you get stuck) and just find which one rates the best. Then once you find it, you can just send emails out to all the used car dealerships to see if they have it. You can even negotiate the price over email.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Very rough estimate, but I think $5k/month should be ok.


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## LBCfan (Jan 13, 2011)

hypo said:


> I'd take a guess at ~1500$ a month.





Four Pillars said:


> Very rough estimate, but I think $5k/month should be ok.


Possibly somewhere between these two. It depend on the lifestyle you are used to and the one you are expecting. Hint: you want to rent a house and buy a used car? Used cars start at $500 and go to $50K. Houses (at least here) start above $1K/mo, I suspect Montreal may be higher.


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## Karen (Jul 24, 2010)

I believe that hypo meant approximately $1,500 per month for rent, whereas Four Pillars was roughly estimating about $5000 per month as minimum living expenses, including rent.


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## financialnoob (Feb 26, 2011)

Not sure how good this site is but it had a lot of listings for houses for rent under $1,500, some even under $1,000:

http://rentmtl.com/

I don't know the neighbourhoods, but it looks a lot more reasonable than Toronto.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Karen said:


> I believe that hypo meant approximately $1,500 per month for rent, whereas Four Pillars was roughly estimating about $5000 per month as minimum living expenses, including rent.


Yes, that's exactly what I meant.


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## ChrisR (Jul 13, 2009)

A family of seven is pretty big, but still, $5000 a month sounds like a ton of money.

Remember, people immigrating from other countries can often stretch their money a lot further than the typical North American. I would suspect that there are a lot of families of seven in Canada that are earning less than $60K per year.

Here is what I would guess:
Rent = 1500/month
Utilities = 200/month
Food/clothing = 1000/month 
Car = 1000/month 

(I'm assuming all meals are prepared from scratch and don't include a lot of meat. Clothes are purchased at discount stores like Walmart and Winners, and the younger kids wear hand-me-downs!)

Total = $3700/month = $44,400/year... Am I missing anything? (I suspect that there are lots of large families 'making it work' on even less than this.)


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I wrote a long post but it didn't get posted ,having a blond moment today lol.Since OP is self Employed i think he should work on getting to know his community .I have a friend from Egypt who has done same thing and has 3 rental properties in Cairo.He is using his money to supplement his earnings ,it is important for the family to earn money and try not to deplete the principle right now.I don't know enough about their situation to advise really but if they have assets in Egypt still earning money then a bank here will accept the income from another country.I know as my friend located here from Israel and her income back there was accepted by mortgage broker.
The family is large and probably needs entire house of their own .I probably would rent until you get established here .I think $5000 net income should be more than sufficient to live well.You probably have enough cash to last 7-10 years depending how you invest it and ROI.So if you think you can be established here in that time frame I would not worry about it.Rents in Egypt are crazy so I would hold on to that property .My friend is getting $2800+ a month for each of his 3 bedroom apartments .

Marina


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Once they get residence status A net income of $30,000 will get them $1352 a month in child tax benefits and Quebec has free day care.When you factor in these things it is possible they can get by with only taking $3000 a month from savings.Obviously OP must have plans to earn money in Canada so when he files 2011 taxes they can start receiving the Child Tax credit summer 2012.


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## eggroup (Mar 29, 2011)

Dear All,

I am really overwhelmed with your concern and replies, this is a GOOD start in Canada, that implies me "I will not be ALONE!".

My real estate in Egypt is a Land subdivision project near Cairo, actually the land is cultivated all with immature citrus trees, we expect harvest in 2012, so this is not the knid of property that can generate revenue monthly, my only revenue from it is by selling parcels of land.

However, I will assume C$5,000 as monthly costs for the first year to be reduced later when I fill my Tax return and receive the child benefits t0 C$3,500.

Within 2 years my land will generate almost C$40,000 a year from Oranges, and this will be increasing as the trees graw.

This is the worst-case scinario I talked about it, based on not selling any parcels in the next 2 years, which I cannot hardly beleive.

Thanks all.

VIVA CANADA!!!


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## daddybigbucks (Jan 30, 2011)

Use the money and buy a piece of Quebec land with maple trees on it.
Tap into the maples trees and you will get maple syrup.

$95/gallon for maple syrup

You sound like you have a good head on your shoulders, i sure you will do great in Canada.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I have been to Egypt MANY years ago and the orange juice is one thing i remember very well.You definitely are not alone and you came to a good place for advise ,many great people on this forum.
I recommend you put off any thoughts of buying here for a couple years.Just curious what sort of business you plan to do here in Canada?I would hang on to the property in Egypt ,your oranges can easily pay for your expenses to live here.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

i am somewhat surprised that immigration would consider admitting a foreign national with only 200k, zero prospects for employment by his own admission, no visible professional qualifications, six dependents, and a lurid interest in canadian child tax benefits.


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

My thoughts exactly as the admission for self-employed is way over $200K.

You're still a young person with many children to support, and sincerely hope that you & family will be very happy here as well as be productive members of Canadian society, ie: you need to do something for Canada and not just reap the benefits of our system. 

As a businessman that you are, there is little that will prevent you from becoming a successful entrepreneur in this wonderful country; daddybigbucks's suggestion was a good one! 

I know a family of 5 [also fairly new immigrants] and they manage on about $2,500 a month in the city of Toronto, which does not have free daycare like Quebec has [though there is subsidized care]. Also, the husband immediately went to an employment agency and it did not take long to find him a job; not one of his liking, he's a professional that took a factory job in order to pay the bills as they did not come with much cash. 

By the way, I visited Cairo a few years ago and though a very chaotic city, it was equally fascinating & simply an unforgettable trip!

Good luck & welcome to the forum & to Canada.


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## oob (Apr 4, 2011)

humble_pie said:


> i am somewhat surprised that immigration would consider admitting a foreign national with only 200k, zero prospects for employment by his own admission, no visible professional qualifications, six dependents, and a lurid interest in canadian child tax benefits.


This...


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## eggroup (Mar 29, 2011)

humble_pie said:


> i am somewhat surprised that immigration would consider admitting a foreign national with only 200k, zero prospects for employment by his own admission, no visible professional qualifications, six dependents, and a lurid interest in canadian child tax benefits.


Dear Mr. Humble Pie,

Although your reply is far away from being "Humble", let me explain to you the following:

1. In my country I belong to the upper-middle class, I am a medical doctor (although I am not working is this career anymore), and I am living in a very nice place in Cairo, so I am not the poor-man that seeks help from YOUR system.

2. The qualification of being self-employed back in 2007 when I admitted my file was to have a minimum of 100K only to be accepted, and thus I doubled this minimum requirement.

3. It's only because of the currency differences that scaled down my 1.2 million Egyptian Pounds (which give me a very comfortable living in Egypt) to this mere 200K Canadian Dollars.

4. The money I transfered to Canada was less than 15% from what I intended to transfer at the first place, but because of the Egyptian Revolution, things went to the wrong direction -at least for the near future.

5. Because of the current temporary situation in Egypt, I thought of two options; either coming this year as planned and try to make a living with the money I already have in Canada (and hence this thread was initiated), or postpone the trip to next year when things are mostly will be stable.

6. I have no intrest at all in being given money from child benefit program or others alike, it's only the worst-case scinario that brought this subject by one of the kind replies to my thread.

7. My immigration to Canada is a win-win situation, I will have a better lifestyle for my family and a better education for my children and Canada will have my young five children to add up to the Canadian youth power who will build a better future for Canada and will have also the money I will put into the economic system, even if I left it unattended in the bank.

With all my due respect, appreciation and gratittude to other replies I received, the one above should have a stop sign from me to clarify things up.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

i agree that the facts look harsh for you, but i stand by my statement.

ottawa has recently raised the wealthy investor threshold from 1 or 2 million CAD to several million CAD. Dollars. Net of exchange fees and net of possible proscribed or unexportable assets in other countries, etc.

canada does need medical doctors in most rural areas, but is not admitting non-licensed non-practising MDs from other countries who would have to commence at year one of an expensive 10-year university medical program in this country - assuming they could be admitted in the first place - in order to eventually be licensed to practice medicine in canada.

every immigration officer will look long & hard at the employable skills of every prospective landed immigrant who does not belong to the above-mentioned wealthy investor category.

there are certain trades and professions that are urgently needed in canada, and priority is given to these. So far, apart from land speculation, it's not clear how you would support yourself & your family in canada.

nothing about these facts should be novel or surprising to you. These are the immigration facts of life for every country in the world. 

in addition, if you plan to live in dollard-des-ormeaux, you need to be able to speak french. You will not be able to work or carry on business in quebec without french. Your children will definitely be attending french schools.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I was the one who brought up the child tax benefit and I wrongly assumed he has all young Children.OP sent me a private message he has kids 8-18 and won't need the daycare I mentioned as well.They all speak french , Most school in Egypt teach kids Arabic , English and French...
OP is self Employed with big assets behind him ,I understand what he is saying as since February Egypt won't allow any external wires from their banks.My friend only managed to get $150,000 out and is also a business man.
OP is coming to our country to set up a business that eventually will employ Canadians ,he came here asking how long his money will last and worst case scenario not to say how can I live off the government.My calculations are completely wrong as he has a child already over 18 and no doubt after our PM conversation he will probably at most get the benefit for 1 tax year then will make too much money.Bottom line Canada needs immigration to support the country and mainly because there are many jobs Canadians will not do or Can not do .
I know many of us lived through days when one person came over then sponsors their parents ,brothers ,sisters ,wife and kids then they all went to welfare. But our system has been changed to disallow this .When you sponsor somebody to Canada you are now responsible for them for 10 years and they cannot collect welfare in these ten years.I know this as I have sponsored a person to Canada and had to assume responsibility for them at least that was the law in 2003 when I did this.
Maybe in 2 years there will be shipping containers of orange Juice coming over and this man will be opening a factory in Quebec .Obviously Canada seen a valid reason to allow him citizenship


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

marina what are you talking about. Canada has no more awarded "citizenship" to this particular foreign national than elizabeth may has a chance of becoming the next prime minister.

if your new friend wishes to migrate to quebec, the proper forum for him to address is immigration quebec. This province has sovereign power over her own immigration, a power that ottawa ceded many years ago.

the quebec delegation responsible for egypt is located in damascus, syria. It does not sound as if mr orange groves has applied to this delegation.

in addition, every single foreign embassy, consulate & delegation is surrounded by representatives of top-ranked canadian financial institutions. These are all eagerly waiting to serve wealthy overseas investors who seriously intend to migrate to canada. The fact that your new penpal does not seem to have any reputable advisor whatsoever causes one to wonder what, exactly, is going on.

finally, here is a suggestion for mr orange groves. Dear sir, it would be better to stop trying to plead your case on this forum & especially through kind-hearted but scatter-brained ladies. If you are indeed the person of substantial wealth that you claim to be, please do find a top-notch canadian immigration lawyer who will introduce you to business advisors who can truly help you. Develop a serious migration plan & focus on a migration date. Immigration half-way round the world is not a tourist excursion. It is not something that you subject an entire family to next summer if you should happen to feel like it, or else the following year if you should happen to feel like that.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

He applied in 2007 I don't pretend to be immigration expert but obviously he knows he is accepted and moving here in two months lol.
Kind hearted scatter brained ladies eh .


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

nope, nnnothing obvious at all

says the little donkey from damascus.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

His opening line is he is new immigrant to Canada , he applied in 2007 and already has $200,000 Sitting in Canadian bank .I can only state my own experience when I sponsored a worker to Canada in 2003 that she required the official papers of acceptance by the Canadian Government to open her RBC Bank account.
So for me I assumed he already has acceptance to have this money in a Canadian Bank .


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## eggroup (Mar 29, 2011)

Dear All,

I am already a permanent resident of Canada since June 2010 with all my family members.

I returned to Egypt to liquidate my assets and come back again, but then comes the revolution.

Mr. Pie, your talks are a little bit hostile, if you can't say a good words to encourage others or try to help them out , then silence is a virtue!! 

Mr./Ms./Mrs. Marina628, thank you for your support and understanding of my real situation and for trying to defend me, it's people like you who make life easier for others. Thank you.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

groves you are one bizarre citrus & your story doesn't add up to a slippery piece of peel.

first groves says, speaking in a future tense, that he wants to move to canada this summer, meaning the summer of 2011.

_" ...I want to move to Canada this [2011] summer ... "_

next, still speaking in the future tense, groves posts that he "will" move to canada.

_" Actually my immigration is in Quebec province, and I will manage to live in Montreal suburban region maybe in west island ...
" ... I will manage to live with this amount of money until I can bring the rest from Egypt, so if I can have a figure for monthly costs, I can calculate how many months this money will give me in Canada."_

speaking again in the future tense, groves says:

_" [in canada] I will have a better lifestyle for my family ..."
_
next, groves says that he is thinking of coming to canada either later this year as he had originally planned (ie 2011) or else next year (ie 2012):

"_ ... I thought of two options; either coming this year as planned and try to make a living with the money I already have in Canada ... or postpone the trip to next year ..."_

but inevitably, as people always do when they try to tell twisted stories, groves sticks the nail straight into his own little coffin:

_" ... In my country ... I am living in a very nice place in Cairo ..."_

groves surely must be joking when he attempts, only hours later in another post, to explain that he's already residing in canada & has in fact been in this country together with his entire family since june 2010. It's a sick & desperate joke.

so where, exactly, are you living, groves. In cairo ?? dollard-des-ormeaux ?? wonderland ??

one should also mention that groves states he is indeed anticipating child tax credits, if he manages to get to canada & file a canadian income tax return. Today at 1:10 am groves posts:

_" ... I will assume C$5,000 as monthly costs for the first year to be reduced later when I fill my Tax return and receive the child benefits t0 C$3,500."_

notice all those future tenses. Groves "will" manage to support 6 dependents on income from 200k. He "will" file tax returns "later" in order to "receive the child benefits." In the meantime, groves is living in "a very nice place in cairo ..."

and he's also living here in canada ...

oh, dear.


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## Karen (Jul 24, 2010)

HP, he said he has been a permanent resident since 2010 - as someone who is personally experienced in the process of getting pr status for my American husband, I took that to mean he received his permanent resident status at that time - not that he necessarily moved here then. I think you're being extremely unfair, looking too hard for things to criticize, and deliberately interpreting anything that isn't perfectly clear in the worst possible light. We all recognize that there are many problems with our immigration system, but this case sounds like a plus for Canada.

And finally, I take serious issue with your comment about "well-meaning but scatter-brained ladies" in obvious reference to Marina. Since I joined this forum, I have formed the opinion that Marina is one of the most intelligent and capable members we have, and one whose opinion nearly everyone seems to respect. She only speaks when she has definite knowledge of the subject being discussed, and she doesn't hesitate to admit she was wrong on the very rare occasion that she is - you might take a lesson from that. 

I often find your posts to be interesting and useful, but in this case, I believe you're completely wrong.


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## smihaila (Apr 6, 2009)

To OP: I understand that you are looking for a better lifestyle and future/stability for your family. But, have you also thought about the climate and how are the houses being built in north-america?

-Except for Vancouver area, Canada is having a FRIGID weather. 5 months winter time and no spring season. Humid summers (except for the west coast). For you coming from Egypt, it will be a shock for sure. You may not care about that much now, but once you get older it becomes harder to tolerate cold weather. Montreal is especially more frigid than rest of east/souther regions. Expect tons of snow and prolonged winters. I lived there for six years and I recently moved to Ontario/Kitchener-Waterloo region. Slightly better but still frigid (I wished to give Canada a 2nd chance, but I regret coming here and the whole this time lost).

-The houses are crappy construction here, IMHO. Concrete is being used for the foundation only. The rest is made of wood - not even that real wood but small pieces glued together. I like to call these "houses" wooden barracks. I don't know how the houses are built in Egypt, but I know that in Europe they are built solid / to last from generation to generation. Here, they are somewhat "disposable houses".

Perhaps the whole driving factor influencing your decision is political/economical stability, or the fact that you may have a lot of friends here already. But the climate is not to be ignored.

Have you thought about Gibraltar, Malta, Channel Islands, UK, or Ireland?


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

We have central Heating Systems here where in Middle East and South Africa where I have been they do not have this.In 2003 I went to Amman Jordan and nearly froze at night and it was only 15 degrees.People adapt to our weather and at first will probably enjoy it until they have shoveled the driveway 5 times in a day lol


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

smihaila said:


> But the climate is not to be ignored.


Good point, in fact, what I found most striking/noticeable [aside from all the points noted by humble], is that he did not ask a single question about the weather, jobs, how long it takes to find one, schools, wages, cost of things or anything that a person in such situation would want/have to know before making such a move. 

I read ALL his posts again [very good English by the way] and indeed also noticed several discrepancies.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

as it happens, karen, i do believe you are probably the one who is wrong. However you "took it to mean," grove's own statements are blatantly contradictory, conflicted & confused.

If you would take the trouble to read his messages, you would observe the contradictions. To summarize:

1) groves states, in numerous posts, that he is living in cairo but planning to immigrate to canada either this summer or in 2012, specifically to a montreal community that he seems to know by its nickname, DDO.

2) in spite of the above, groves also states, extremely clearly & distinctly, that he has already been living in canada, together with his family, since june 2010.

_" I am already a permanent resident of Canada since June 2010 with all my family members. I returned to Egypt to liquidate my assets and come back again ... "_

there is obviously far more to this story than the contradictory tale that has been launched.

as for the facts concerning wealthy immigrant investors, to the best of my knowledge there is no ambiguity about this program. The threshold was recently raised to several million $ from a low previous amount of only 1-2 million that was ridiculously out of sync with every other industrialized nation. Lands & assets within blocked or embargoed countries would not count.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

I am also intrigued by the choice of the user name - eggroup.
A quick Google search shows this to be the name of a business based out of Egypt.
Their website is:
http://eggroup-eg.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2

The business however does not seem to be related to either investing or immigration, but some sort of health care product.

Curious choice of user name, unless the poster is actually affiliated with this company.

Could be a coincidence, of course.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

OP Extended family already live in that area and family already have their immigration approved and $200,000 in a bank here. Many people get approved but do not come into the country immediately for whatever reason.He applied in 2007 so I would assume that he has to be judged on 2007 rules at the time.Anyway he asked a financial question not for us to hold an immigration hearing .


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

HaroldCrump said:


> I am also intrigued by the choice of the user name - eggroup.
> A quick Google search shows this to be the name of a business based out of Egypt.
> Their website is:
> http://eggroup-eg.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2
> ...


He indicated he is a Doctor so maybe he is connected or maybe it is just random.None of our business really.


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## smihaila (Apr 6, 2009)

humble_pie said:


> 1) groves states, in numerous posts, that he is living in cairo but planning to immigrate to canada either this summer or in 2012, specifically to a montreal community that he seems to know by its nickname, DDO.


Yes, DDO = Ville de Dollard Des Ormeaux.


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## eggroup (Mar 29, 2011)

Dear All, 

I am really happy with all that discussion about me and this thread, and I will try to clarify my situation, because I appreciate your concern:

My name is Y. A. Telmissany, the user name I used here is because I worked for 13 years in a medical company in Egypt named Egyptian Group and I used to use that nick name since 1996, of course not related to the company Mr. HaroldCrump mentioned in his search, I left the company in 2003, they have a web site now but apparantley it's not working, but thier details could be reached here:
http://directory.egypt.com/english/detail/7544/egyptian-group-co.html.

As my native language is not English, I made a mistake in using the future tense that let Mr. Pie misunderstood me, and since he built a negative image about me starting from his first reply, he tried to {read between the lines} and conclude results based on his own primacy impression!!

And since this thread turned to be a discussion about me and my immigration file (!) which I didn't mean when I asked my simple question that was obvious in the title, and whose answer could be as simple as (Yes) or (NO) with a little explanation if possible, please let me give you the chronological order of my file:

1. In May 2007, I submitted my file under the "self-employed category" and at that time, the canadian governoment was considering (buying a farm) as eligibility to be in that category, with a condition that I had to prove that I was running a farm for the past two years before date of admission of my file, and since I was in the farm business since 2003, it worked for me.

2. In January 2009, after I got my "Selection certificate by Quebec" and before I got my immigration visa, I made a visit to my sister in Ottawa, she is a Canadian citizen and a professor in the University of Ottawa, and she is the one who tried to convience me to move to Canada for several years before I started my file, it was a touristic visit to see the country in its worst condition in winter, I even walked under the sun at -23C !!

3. In June 2009, I got my immigration visa with a validity till June 2010, but I couldn't move right away as I had troubles in selling my farm because of the consequences of the global recession that hit the world in late 2008.

4. This recession prolonged till May 2010, when I started to sell parcels from my land, it was a small start but I had to go on and be (inside) my farm all the time to boost sales.

5. "Our immigration visa will end next month" I told my wife, so we have to make a trip to Canada, be landed-immigrants, got our PR, come back again to Egypt to finish the sale of the farm and move on to Canada with the cash to buy a new farm.

6. We made some good sales and transfered the money to my bank account in Canada which I opened during my visit in June 2010.

7. We arranged to finish the 2010-2011 school year of the kids in Egypt and at the same time sell as much as we can from the land, transfer the money to Canada and go for final settellment in summer 2011.

8. Then came the revolution in January 2011, all sales stopped, all money transfers to outside Egypt stopped, and I stucked with the following situation:

C$200K in Canada (not enough to buy a farm or make a living) and 6-7 folds of that number still freezed in farmland in Egypt that I cannot sell.​
I think I made myself as clear as possible.


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## eggroup (Mar 29, 2011)

Toronto.gal said:


> Good point, in fact, what I found most striking/noticeable [aside from all the points noted by humble], is that he did not ask a single question about the weather, jobs, how long it takes to find one, schools, wages, cost of things or anything that a person in such situation would want/have to know before making such a move.
> 
> I read ALL his posts again [very good English by the way] and indeed also noticed several discrepancies.


I already have my sister to help me in this matter, what I was asking regards the "investment" in which my sister knows nothing about, she's a professor of literature and so is her husband and this matter is out of thier scope of life!

That's why I started to look for help in forums.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

eggroup said:


> I used to use that nick name since 1996, of course not related to the company Mr. HaroldCrump mentioned in his search, I left the company in 2003, they have a web site now but apparantley it's not working, but thier details could be reached here:
> http://directory.egypt.com/english/detail/7544/egyptian-group-co.html.


The website isn't "working" because the URL syntax is wrong.
Once you correct it i.e. take out the extra period (.) it takes you right back to the website I had indicated.
Therefore evidence points that this indeed is the website that is the source of your user name.

It is also maybe a coincidence that the inception date of this organization roughly coincides with the time you sought Canadian residency.

I hope you are receiving the help and information from the replies here that you were seeking.
It's also possible that some of the gaps in your story may be attributed to language issues with English.
Since most members in this forum are anonymous anyway, I suppose it doesn't matter.

Good luck with your ventures.

-Harold


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## Causalien (Apr 4, 2009)

eggroup said:


> I already have my sister to help me in this matter, what I was asking regards the "investment" in which my sister knows nothing about, she's a professor of literature and so is her husband and this matter is out of thier scope of life!
> 
> That's why I started to look for help in forums.


Welcome to Canada, you made a fine choice in DDO and Quebec as your first stay. It is a multicultured and diversified city where you will feel at home. There really isn't any particular race that dominates in that city. The only possible type of racism you might encounter is a scoff from certain Canadians because you don't speak French. 

From what I've seen traveling across Canada, Montreal is the city with the least amount of racial tension with the most amount of people that are from the same part of the world as you.

DDO is a very English area and you certainly won't encounter racial problems there, but beware of its winter. It is the reason why I moved away.

As for the $200 000. The answer is no, you won't be able to survive forever on that. But I give you 10 years if you are frugal. If you are good with investing, that $200 000 can last maybe 20 years.

As for your kids, you might want to think about whether or not Quebec is the place to be. Welcome classes in French is mandatory so your kids will be forced to learn French and integrate in a French environment while the rest of Canada is mostly English. Taxes are about to increase in Quebec by a lot and employment will decrease along with increased tax. It is not recommended to have your kids spend the mandatory 3 years in French and then move to an English university. That will definitely screw up their language.


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## Karen (Jul 24, 2010)

Causalien, if you read one of Marina's posts where she tells about her personal correspondence with Dr. Telmissany, you'll see that he and his family all speak both French and English, so language won't be a problem when they arrive in Montreal.


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