A former Calgarian now living in Mexico is giving Canadians fed up with years of government COVID-19 regulations — and lousy winter weather — help to get out..Margaret Keays now lives in Mazatlan, on the west coast of Mexico, and offers her first-hand knowledge to Canadians looking for a change in locale..Various reasons prompted Keays to move to Mexico last year. Early in 2020 at the onset of restrictions, she said she became acutely aware Canada’s social landscape was showing signs of clear division between those who were arguing for an authoritarian response by government to the emerging pandemic, and others who were concluding provincial and federal reactions were fast-becoming gross political overreach..“It made me think that perhaps there’s a better place to live for the time being … because I lived in Canada for 20-something years, and I’ve always thought of going somewhere without snow,” said Keays..When the political and economic landscape began to look unappealing to Keays, she went entirely online with her coaching business in an attempt to prepare for a remote-work lifestyle, possibly abroad.. Expat in Mexico offers relocation services to fed-up CanadiansCancun, Mexico .“That prompted me to feel like, well, if this pandemic is going to take more than a few months, how will the future look for me here?” Keays said explaining her doubts about remaining in Canada..Keays said starting her relocation service was a natural evolution of the conversations she was having with her clients when they began to ask how she had made the move to Mexico..“It happened very organically. I was talking in my private Facebook group about living in Mexico and I began to notice many people had lots of questions about how to do that,” she said..Keays’ response to the overwhelming number of questions on the topic of emigration was to offer a group call for those who wanted to explore the topic further. Her relocation business, Liberated Minds Relocations, is the offspring of her efforts..“I had 800 people sign up for my little webinar, so that’s when I knew — wow — there’s really lots of interest,” said Keays.. Keays-Mexico-2Mexico relocation service. Image courtesy of Margaret Keays. .“I pretty much wanted to offer people the tool I did not have when I moved to Mexico,” Keays added. “I had to discover everything by myself. It was quite, quite stressful.”.Her portal, Keays explained, is a resource that helps people counteract fear of the unknown and a place where those interested in moving can learn all about Mexico as a destination. It also serves to challenge many preconceived notions that Mexico is a dangerous place to live..“If you’re coming from Canada, especially,” she said, “it’s a perpetual summer.”.Given the skyrocketing cost of living in Canada, Mexico has enormous appeal on an economic level..“I think a major factor here as to why people move to Mexico is the cost of living is very low. You can rent around $300 per month for a two-bedroom apartment, said Keays. “Utilities are around $30 per month,” she added..Mexico’s mandates and restrictions differ somewhat from Canada’s. Various municipalities in Mexico have mask mandates, but according to Keays, no one takes too much notice of them..Keays said in August 2020, the Mazatlan municipality made an attempt to introduce a mandate. Within 10 days, 300 local citizens had filed for an injunction and the mandate was overruled as unconstitutional..Mexicans and expats are indifferent to the daily COVID-19 case counts data..“Nobody’s really following the cases. Nobody really does any of this daily counting. Here, people are more concerned with living — actually enjoying life, more precisely,” emphasized Keays.. Mazatlan-MexicoDaniel Apodaca .Keays said typically Canadians who are moving to or inquiring about Mexico relocation are working professionals, middle-aged, those approaching retirement, or people with young families..“So, what I’m hearing mostly is there’s a concern about the future of Canada, the way it’s being governed the way that the debt is going up. The (government’s) inability to make the right decisions for Canadians. That’s the perception. And people are just unsure about their future. And if they have children, that perception, that fear of the future for their children is really very motivating for them to leave Canada,” Keays said..Other considerations for worried Canadians are economic decline and burgeoning government debt..Charter flights are the travel solution of choice for Keays and her expats for her relocation services. Though chartered airplanes can be expensive for the most part — sometimes as much as $100,000 for a 50-seater aircraft — they offer travellers far more flexibility in terms of what they can transport and how. When flights are full, charter flight costs become far more economical per passenger..“The (standard) airlines can be quite prohibitive as far as how many pets can come aboard. And people love their pets. And there are tons of people who are relocated with two cats and a dog, or three dogs. So if you if you have those kind of funds, you can charter a plane,” Keays said..Keays encouraged Canadians to get their residency visas organized before they depart Canada..“That’s a huge one,” she added, “because in Mexico, you are able to stay for up to six months, and then you have to leave the country.”.According to Statistics Canada, more than 48,000 Canadians left Canada between the third quarter of 2020 and third quarter of 2021. More than 18,000 of those left Canada in the last part of 2021..Amanda Brown is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.abrown@westernstandardonline.com
A former Calgarian now living in Mexico is giving Canadians fed up with years of government COVID-19 regulations — and lousy winter weather — help to get out..Margaret Keays now lives in Mazatlan, on the west coast of Mexico, and offers her first-hand knowledge to Canadians looking for a change in locale..Various reasons prompted Keays to move to Mexico last year. Early in 2020 at the onset of restrictions, she said she became acutely aware Canada’s social landscape was showing signs of clear division between those who were arguing for an authoritarian response by government to the emerging pandemic, and others who were concluding provincial and federal reactions were fast-becoming gross political overreach..“It made me think that perhaps there’s a better place to live for the time being … because I lived in Canada for 20-something years, and I’ve always thought of going somewhere without snow,” said Keays..When the political and economic landscape began to look unappealing to Keays, she went entirely online with her coaching business in an attempt to prepare for a remote-work lifestyle, possibly abroad.. Expat in Mexico offers relocation services to fed-up CanadiansCancun, Mexico .“That prompted me to feel like, well, if this pandemic is going to take more than a few months, how will the future look for me here?” Keays said explaining her doubts about remaining in Canada..Keays said starting her relocation service was a natural evolution of the conversations she was having with her clients when they began to ask how she had made the move to Mexico..“It happened very organically. I was talking in my private Facebook group about living in Mexico and I began to notice many people had lots of questions about how to do that,” she said..Keays’ response to the overwhelming number of questions on the topic of emigration was to offer a group call for those who wanted to explore the topic further. Her relocation business, Liberated Minds Relocations, is the offspring of her efforts..“I had 800 people sign up for my little webinar, so that’s when I knew — wow — there’s really lots of interest,” said Keays.. Keays-Mexico-2Mexico relocation service. Image courtesy of Margaret Keays. .“I pretty much wanted to offer people the tool I did not have when I moved to Mexico,” Keays added. “I had to discover everything by myself. It was quite, quite stressful.”.Her portal, Keays explained, is a resource that helps people counteract fear of the unknown and a place where those interested in moving can learn all about Mexico as a destination. It also serves to challenge many preconceived notions that Mexico is a dangerous place to live..“If you’re coming from Canada, especially,” she said, “it’s a perpetual summer.”.Given the skyrocketing cost of living in Canada, Mexico has enormous appeal on an economic level..“I think a major factor here as to why people move to Mexico is the cost of living is very low. You can rent around $300 per month for a two-bedroom apartment, said Keays. “Utilities are around $30 per month,” she added..Mexico’s mandates and restrictions differ somewhat from Canada’s. Various municipalities in Mexico have mask mandates, but according to Keays, no one takes too much notice of them..Keays said in August 2020, the Mazatlan municipality made an attempt to introduce a mandate. Within 10 days, 300 local citizens had filed for an injunction and the mandate was overruled as unconstitutional..Mexicans and expats are indifferent to the daily COVID-19 case counts data..“Nobody’s really following the cases. Nobody really does any of this daily counting. Here, people are more concerned with living — actually enjoying life, more precisely,” emphasized Keays.. Mazatlan-MexicoDaniel Apodaca .Keays said typically Canadians who are moving to or inquiring about Mexico relocation are working professionals, middle-aged, those approaching retirement, or people with young families..“So, what I’m hearing mostly is there’s a concern about the future of Canada, the way it’s being governed the way that the debt is going up. The (government’s) inability to make the right decisions for Canadians. That’s the perception. And people are just unsure about their future. And if they have children, that perception, that fear of the future for their children is really very motivating for them to leave Canada,” Keays said..Other considerations for worried Canadians are economic decline and burgeoning government debt..Charter flights are the travel solution of choice for Keays and her expats for her relocation services. Though chartered airplanes can be expensive for the most part — sometimes as much as $100,000 for a 50-seater aircraft — they offer travellers far more flexibility in terms of what they can transport and how. When flights are full, charter flight costs become far more economical per passenger..“The (standard) airlines can be quite prohibitive as far as how many pets can come aboard. And people love their pets. And there are tons of people who are relocated with two cats and a dog, or three dogs. So if you if you have those kind of funds, you can charter a plane,” Keays said..Keays encouraged Canadians to get their residency visas organized before they depart Canada..“That’s a huge one,” she added, “because in Mexico, you are able to stay for up to six months, and then you have to leave the country.”.According to Statistics Canada, more than 48,000 Canadians left Canada between the third quarter of 2020 and third quarter of 2021. More than 18,000 of those left Canada in the last part of 2021..Amanda Brown is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.abrown@westernstandardonline.com
