It's $101,300 per person for tax year 2016.
My husband's company has an office in Waterloo, and my understanding is that given our age, skill sets, degrees and language skills, we will score high under the Skilled Workers Program. Nothing is certain, but we feel like we are strong candidates for permanent residency, which can lead to citizenship within 4-5 years.
We don't intend to give up our citizenship. I need to look into the tax issues more. I was thinking that if you lived in a country with higher taxes, you could take a credit against any foreign taxes that you pay, thus reducing your US income taxes to zero. And isn't this all very dependent on the treaties with each country? Does anyone have a link to a good source on this info, or experience with these tax issues in Canada specifically?
I can speak a little on this. As indicated, taxes on income earned in Canada is not likely to be an issue for you due to the very high income exemption between CA/USA. Be aware that it could always change with political winds, though I doubt it.
You WILL have to continue filling taxes annually, and you will continue to pay capitol gains taxes on all money held in US accounts.
Note: to qualify for the tax exeption you MUST meet either the "physical presence test (min. 330 days/year outside the US) or the "de-facto resident test" (a bit more complicated, but requires being outside the US much of the time). If you plan on spending, say, 6mo in the US and 6mo in Canada you will not qualify for the $103k salary exemption.
Regarding immigration, the most sure-fire way of receiving work permits and then permanent resident status is for one of you to have a job offer in Canada, preferably one listed on the CIC website. With your assets Canada will likey allow you to live here anyway, but a path to citizenship is not guaranteed, and it's my understanding you are less likely to be granted permanent resident/citizen status if you have no work history in the country.
Health care is another factor. You will NOT get provincial health care simply because you move to Canada. Note there is no "Canadian Health Care System" - it's all disbursed by the individual provinces, and each one has thier own rules. Plan on holding your own insurance for the first few years you live here until you qualify for a health care card. Even then, many (even Canadians!) carry supplimental health care insurance to cover things like perscription drugs, dental/vision, preferential treatment for quality-of-life proceedures and private/semi-private hospital rooms.
I'd start by planning an extended vacation (2-3 weeks minimum) in the area you want to live, and talk exensively with US ex-pats who ahve moved there. We moved to Quebec 4 years ago and it's been a mixture of frustration and joy. Often the US and Canada seem interchangable, but then there are times when glaring differences raise their heads, and it's hard not to think "this would never happen in the US/Canada!"