Canada

Canadian Organizations

There are three cryonics-related organizations in Canada:

They are all societies that provide information and have meetings, but which do not provide any meaninful cryonics services.

Obstacles to Care

There are huge obstacles to receiving quality care if you live in Canada. Most of them are due to various international laws, which are nearly impossible to work around. Yes, there some scattered "kits" in Canada. Yes, there is a case from Canada every few years. But I remain very pessimistic. The information below is what I learned over the course of a year as I was deeply researching how to start a cryonics company in Canada. The obstacles forced me to abandon that plan as completely unrealistic.

Providers from US

Visiting Canada to perform cryonics activities is a business activity and is clearly not a toursim activity. There was an incident where a cryonics provider was bringing surgical instruments into Canada under the auspicies of tourism, and he was denied entry for this reason. Instead of entering as a tourism visitor, there is an option to enter as a business visitor. Unfortunately, working in cryonics as a business visitor is not allowed because the person would become part of the Canadian labour market. Permitted activities as a business visitor are much more limited and must be focused on business relationships rather then services. Permitted activities might include carefully worded activities such as:

- Meeting with one of the local non-profit societies to train them on emergency services.

- Meeting with doctors and funeral directors to arrange transport of a body back to the US.

In all cases, it would be emphasized that the business visitor was

-planning to stay for only a short time

-not going to enter the Canadian labour market by providing any services

-advancing business relationships

-letting Canadian professionals perform all actual services

Business People

This is not the same as business visitors. NAFTA allows certain professionals, investors, and intra-company transfers to work in Canada. They must have a work permit and a Canadian employer in all cases. Cryonics is not one of the job categories specified in NAFTA. The only way this might apply to cryonics at all is the use of intra-company transfers.

Canadian Company

The only option left for performing cryonics in Canada is through a Canadian company or a Canadian branch of a US company. This company or branch will actually need to maintain a physical presence in Canada. Cryonics is a business activity. It requires a company, a business address, a business license, taxation, employees, etc. Workers from outside Canada will not be allowed to perform cryonics services of any kind unless they have a work permit and are employed by the Canadian company or branch. A representative from an US cryonics company may show up for a case, but they won't be allowed to bring equipment or perform any services. They will mostly only be able to provide advice to volunteers and funeral directors.

East/West

Canada is vast. If a cryonics service provider establishes itself in Toronto, for example, that still would not allow members in Vancouver to get any services at all other than from staff employed by the Canadian company traveling from Toronto to Vancouver. Remember that nobody from the US is allowed to participate, so the single Canadian company or branch of a US company would need to cover all of Canada without relying on any resources from the US.

Implications for Care

Canadians cannot get any meaningful care at this time. They need to either move to the US, or hope that someone will start a Canadian company. They may depend on volunteer care and advice from a US provider, but this will frequently mean little more than slow cooling followed by a straight freeze. This is very substandard care.

It will likely be many decades before any cryonics service at all is available in Canada.