Forgot to mention that because of the theatrics at U.S. POE we
don't even consider traveling thru the U.S. anymore. Just a simple
thing, like a transit, which in every other country ( don't know about
Canada, though ) is a piece of cake, is just a horrendous experience
in the U.S. I now go South America thru Mexico, and to Canada non-stop,
although trips thru the U.S. are sometimes considerably cheaper.
We love Canada and want to explore ways how we can stay in
Vancouver for part of the year, the other part in Europe and Japan.
So I will want to check with some Immigration office during the
upcoming trip what and if they do have some sort of retirement visa.