Help Keep Salty in Canada!

Hi, my name is Nicole. Most of yall probably know me as Salty. For those of you who do, that should be enough of an introduction to cover a whole lot of background. For everyone else reading this, thank you for clicking and giving some of your time to a stranger with a fairly serious ask.

I’d like to stay in Canada and to become a Canadian Permanent Resident.

I’ve spent these past few months in Toronto with my wife. Not only is she an amazing person, she’s introduced me to an amazing city. The local live music scene here is great, the the city’s culture is very tolerant, and the people live up to the Canadian stereotype of frankly being nicer. The atmosphere towards transgender people is a genuine comfort compared to where I came from. I wish to stay here with Bree. In order to do that, I need to file an application for something called Permanent Residency. It’s a legal status in Canada that authorizes me to live in the country for five years before either renewal of Permanent Residency status or citizenship, depending on my decision.

Though we considered it, we’ve decided that it isn’t feasible or safe for me to go back home to Florida. From the ban on hormone replacement therapy for transgender patients (I knew eight trans people in my town; every single one of them had their ongoing healthcare made illegal under that law), to Florida’s transgender bathroom bill — which narrowly missed my workplace, with the final variation of the bill only applying to state owned buildings (such as the university campus), missing me by a few hundred feet — it quickly became apparent to my wife and I that settling together in Florida would not be a safe option. Had the original text of Florida’s bathroom bill passed, my employer would be faced with the decision of terminating me or potentially eating a $10,000 fine. With the final variation of the bathroom bill that was passed, we would not even have been able to use the washrooms in the courthouse where we were wed. It is likely that more restrictive laws will be passed in this year's coming legislative session.

I was very lucky that my place of work was not covered by the final draft of Florida's bathroom ban. But it's clear to us that the best, safest and happiest way for my wife and I to remain physically together is if I immigrate to Toronto, Canada.

To that end, and while my wife and I are making ends meet with rent and food expenses, it would be a great help to us if we could ask yall for assistance with the fees for my spousal PR application. The sponsorship fee is only $75 Canadian Dollars (CAD). The principal applicant fee, due simultaneously, is a much steeper $490 CAD. The right of permanent residence fee will be $515 CAD and is due a few months later, immediately after the permanent residency application is approved. Additionally, I’ll be eligible to apply for a work permit after receiving confirmation of receipt of my application for permanent residency, which would permit me to work legally in Canada. I’m able bodied and eager to be able to resume contributing to my household. The processing fee to apply for a work permit is $155 CAD. The open work permit holder fee is an additional $100 CAD.

All told, my wife and I are asking yall to help us to raise $1335 CAD, the sum of all the costs and fees listed previously, to cover my PR application and subsequent work permit fees. To account for GoFundMe’s take (2.9%, plus $0.30 USD per individual donation) and fluctuating exchange rates, we’ve nudged this to $1400 CAD or just under $1040 USD.