Let’s start with the big news:

As of now, Lori has a work visa in hand, our lease in Toronto is signed, and we’ve traded the sweet cornfields of Missouri for the sweet promise of public healthcare and universal politeness. It’s happening, people. It’s really happening.

Short answer: Missouri kind of sucks for families like ours right now.

If you’ve ever tried to Google "how to move to Canada," you’ve probably stumbled upon Express Entry—Canada’s points-based system for permanent residency. And if you’ve ever done the math on yourself, you probably had the same reaction we did:

Turns out we’re great humans, just… not very pointy ones. Express Entry told us (politely, because it’s Canada) that we didn’t qualify. Cue the existential dread.

So, we regrouped. And by regrouped, we mean we got a second opinion and learned about the C11 Entrepreneur Work Permit—a legal path to Canada under the International Mobility Program for people with established businesses. And hey, guess what? Lori has one of those.

We ended up hiring a law firm (hello, privilege and goodbye, savings) and dropped a casual $20K to get the paperwork going. If you’re wondering where that money went: it wasn’t just someone telling us what to do. It was full-on corporate paperwork, business plans, registrations, and a legal strategy with layers.

Lori walked into Pearson Airport with a stack of paperwork, a hopeful heart, and a backup plan in case the immigration officer decided to play hardball. Instead, she met the dreamiest Canadian who smiled, stamped, and handed over a shiny new work permit. It was all very anticlimactic and weirdly pleasant.

Meanwhile, we’re still mentally preparing for the day someone tells us, “Oops, just kidding, back to Missouri!” Spoiler: that’s not likely. But we’re trauma-brained Americans who’ve had job-linked healthcare dangled and ripped away too many times to trust anything blindly.

This episode of the Love It or Leaf It podcast breaks down:

Next steps? Moving logistics. Downsizing two Missouri homes. Filling out social support forms. Getting our Social Insurance Numbers (SINs, because Canada loves spicy acronyms). And eventually… applying for permanent residency.

We're sharing this journey not just because it's wild—but because so many people ask us how. And while this isn’t a one-size-fits-all roadmap, it is an honest look at what it takes to say, "This isn’t working for us here, let’s try somewhere new."

💌 Know someone dreaming of a new beginning? Send them this post.