Oct 5, 2026
When Saskatchewan resident Arend Feenstra sold his farm and moved his wife and eight children to Russia, he was chasing a fresh start and ‘traditional’ values. A few years later, he got a rude awakening when he learned that his new home country now comes with a condition he can’t accept.
Feenstra received a three-year temporary residence permit in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region in early 2025, according to Meduza, an independent Russian news outlet based in Latvia. His wife and eight of their nine children joined him in their new home country, and he started farming. But to swap that permit for permanent residence, he says he must sign a contract with Russia’s Defence Ministry.
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In a video posted to YouTube, Feenstra states: “I didn’t come here to sign a contract. I’d rather take my chances in Canada, though I think living there is risky too.”
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Feenstra wasn’t the only Canadian to take Russia’s offer. Russia issued 1,112 “traditional values” visas worldwide in 2025 — 54 of them to Canadians — according to Alexei Klimov, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s consular department, as reported by The Moscow Times.
Here’s what Feenstra and other Canadians face after ‘fleeing’ Canada and emigrating to Russia.
Why ‘traditional values’ visa holders chose to move to Russia
Russia launched their ‘values’ recruitment program in August 2024 — aimed at citizens of Western countries, including Canada, who share what the Kremlin calls ‘traditional Russian values.’
Under Russian Presidential Decree No. 702, the ”traditional” values attached to Russia’s humanitarian emigration visa — often called the “shared values” or “anti-woke” visa — focus on a rejection of “destructive neoliberal” and Western ideological policies, including “LGBTQ rights to mixed-gender bathrooms.”
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What’s the catch?
These were the terms — and promises — that prompted Feenstra to move his family to Russia. Selling his Saskatchewan farm in 2024 and moving everyone to Russia in early 2025.
The contract requirement with the Russian Defence Ministry came later. In November 2025, Russia passed a requirement that all foreign men aged 18 to 65, who are deemed fit for service must sign a Defence Ministry contract to get permanent residence — and traditional values visa holders aren’t exempt, Meduza reports.
This doesn’t mean Feenstra or other foreign permanent residents must sign the contract. According to Feenstra, he can apply for another temporary permit when his current one expires, but he also says the rules keep changing. The uncertainty is now prompting Feenstra and his family to change their stance about the ‘values’ move — and they are no longer recommending the move.
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To be clear, Global Affairs Canada advises Canadians to avoid all travel to Russia.
What do Canadians give up when they leave Canada, permanently?
Anyone who leaves Canada permanently — regardless of where they move, or why — will face automatic updates and changes to their tax and residency status.
It’s important to understand that Canadian residents pay taxes on their worldwide income, as outlined in the Income Tax Act (ITA); a non-resident of Canada is taxed only on certain Canadian-sourced income.
You need to meet certain conditions to be considered a non-resident, in particular:
- disposing of or renting their home in Canada and establishing a permanent home in another country
- when family, including spouse or common-law partner and dependants leave Canada
- disposing of personal property in Canada and breaking social ties, such as church or recreational memberships
If any or all these conditions are met, then you can expect the following:
Departure tax
When you become a non-resident, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), which administers federal taxes and benefits, will consider your assets as ‘sold’ at fair market value. This deemed disposition, often called the departure tax, is reported on Form T1243, and you can elect to defer payment using Form T1244. Canadian real estate is excluded, since Canada can tax it when it’s eventually sold.
Child benefits
The Canada Child Benefit (CCB) is paid only to Canadian tax residents. From July 2026 to June 2027, it’s worth up to $8,157 per child under 6 and $6,883 per child aged 6 to 17, shrinking as family income rises. At the maximum, eight children aged 6 to 17 would bring in more than $55,000 a year — but only if you remain a Canadian tax resident.
Retirement benefits
To collect Old Age Security (OAS) while living abroad, you need at least 20 years of Canadian residence after age 18. With fewer than 40 years, the pension is prorated — so a mid-career move can permanently shrink this benefit.
What if you want to come back to Canada?
Canadian citizens can always return to their home country, but it isn’t a clean reset.
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If you still hold the same assets when you re-establish residency, the CRA lets you elect to “unwind” the deemed disposition, which may reduce or eliminate the departure tax; however, assets you actually sold — a farm, a home or a business — will not be returned.
For those eligible for CCB, this benefit only restarts once you’re a resident again — and reapply. Health coverage rules for returning residents also vary by province, so check yours before you book a flight.
What to do now
If you’re weighing a permanent move — anywhere — work through this list before you decide or do anything:
- Read the rules for permanent residence, not just the visa, and ask what happens if they change
- Check the Global Affairs Canada travel advisory for your destination and register with the Registration of Canadians Abroad service
- Model your departure tax with a cross-border tax professional, including whether a Form T1244 deferral makes sense
- Add up the benefits you’ll forfeit, starting with the CCB
- Count your OAS residence years before you leave
- Keep enough cash to fly your whole household home and cover several months while benefits restart
- Consider renting out, rather than selling, key assets until your new status is secure
A visa answers whether a country will let you in. The bigger question is whether its rules will still work for you in five years — and whether you can afford to come home if they don’t.
For Feenstra and his family, the door remains open to return to Canada. The real dilemma is whether their “traditional” values are more important to them than living in a country where their children won’t potentially face mandatory military service. As he states in his TikTok post: “I didn’t come here to sign a contract,” that requires him to be away from his farm for years. “I might as well take my risks in Canada, which I also think is a risky place to live.”
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Romana King, Senior Editor at Money.ca, also writes for various North American publications and the RKHomeowner blog. Her book, House Poor No More, is an Amazon bestseller and five-time award winner, including the 2022 New York CPA Society's Excellence in Financial Journalism (EFJ) Book Award.
