Greece is a realistic move from Canada if you match a residence route to your situation early. The short version: a one-bedroom rents for about €550 a month in the bigger cities, typical net salaries run around €1,000, personal taxes sit at 9-44%, and permanent residence usually takes about 5 years of legal stay. Here is how the move actually works for Canadian citizens.
Getting in: your route options
As Canadian citizens you can enter visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180, which makes scouting trips easy. Living in Greece is a separate matter: you need a residence permit tied to a reason.
- Remote work: Greece runs the Digital Nomad Visa, income bar around €3,500/mo, 1 year visa, 2-year residence permit possible. Plus 20% per partner and 15% per child on the income bar.
- Work: a job offer plus a work permit; for higher-paid qualified roles ask employers about the EU Blue Card, which speeds up residence across most of the bloc.
- Study: university admission converts into a student permit, usually with part-time work rights and a post-graduation job-seeker option.
- Family and ancestry: joining an EU spouse or partner, or claiming citizenship by descent if you have an EU-citizen parent or grandparent.
What life in Greece costs
Budget roughly €550 for a one-bed plus about €820 for essentials and transport, per person. English friendliness scores 60/100 here.
Healthcare here rates 65/100 in this model and everyday safety 78/100, while public transport comes in at 60/100.
Paperwork is the hard part: Greece scores 80/100 for bureaucratic friction, so budget real time for registrations and appointments.
The rental market has real competition (55/100) but is manageable with planning.
The local language (EL) is one of the harder ones to pick up, rated 35/100, which is worth knowing if residence later requires a language test.
Greece has a large and visible international community, which shortens the lonely first months considerably.
What you would pay in tax
If you keep earning from abroad and register as self-employed, Greece charges same brackets on profit; presumptive minimum-income rules apply, plus efka classes from ~€250/mo.
The presumptive minimum (deemed income) surprised many freelancers; plan for it.
Greece is among the more welcoming countries in the bloc for remote workers and freelancers, rated 72/100. The full picture, including the company route and the special regimes, is on the taxes in Greece page, and the take-home index ranks all 27 countries on what actually reaches your account.
The long game
Permanent residence in Greece takes about 5 years of legal residence, and citizenship about 7 years from arrival, subject to language and integration requirements. If an EU passport is part of your plan, weigh this timeline against neighbouring countries before you commit.