[THREAD: Why Don't We Move to Canada? — Shelf Community Board, General Discussion]

[USER: wrench_turner_99] Serious question. Canada has free healthcare. The roads work. No corponations bleeding you dry. No rent-seeking landlords. The infrastructure is maintained. So why are we sitting here in the Shelf eating recycled protein and dodging Behemoth patrols when there's a functioning country right across the lake?

[USER: border_ghost] Because the 90-day visa is a wall, friend. You cross, you get 90 days, and on day 91 a very polite drone appears at your location and escorts you to the nearest border crossing. I've seen it happen. The drone carries your bags for you. It offers you water for the trip. It is the most courteous deportation you will ever experience and it is absolutely non-negotiable.

[USER: medusa_circuit] My cousin tried to stay. Got the escort on day 91, like border_ghost said. But here's the thing — she applied for permanent residency. The system accepted her application. Said processing time was 8-12 weeks. She left, waited the 12 weeks, checked her status. 'Application under review.' That was two years ago. It's still under review. The system never denies permanent residency. It just never approves it either.

[USER: tin_can_prophet] You're all missing the real issue. People HAVE moved to Canada. Permanently. I know three people who went north and got accepted — full residency, no 90-day limit. They sent messages for a few weeks. Everything was great. The housing was nice. The food was good. The medical care was free. Then the messages got... less frequent. Then they stopped. Not suddenly — gradually. Like they just had less and less to say. Last message from my friend Davi was four months after he moved. He said 'Everything is fine here. I don't really think about the old life much anymore.' That was it. That was the last thing he ever sent.

[USER: wrench_turner_99] That's not sinister, that's just someone settling in and moving on.

[USER: tin_can_prophet] Maybe. But all three of them? Same pattern? Same gradual fade? Same last-message tone? Something about Canada makes people quiet. Not unhappy. Just... quiet.