Knowledge, experience, and attitude are the most valuable assets you can have when it comes to being self sufficient. However, owning some equipment or stocking up on some supplies can speed up the process and makes things a lot more enjoyable for you.
This list is a live document and I will make additions from time to time.
Here are some good lists of equipment, tools, and other supplies that I have found online:
Intermediate Information on a Basic Tool Kit Part 1 / Tool Kit Part 2
There are many components of personal sovereignty that lead toward greater freedom and independence.
To me, they can be grouped into four pillars.
You have to think for yourself.
Almost everything you read contains a hidden agenda, marketing spin, or outright misdirection. The ability to research an issue, analyze the facts, and reach your own conclusions is one of the most valuable skills you can develop.
As Canadians, we like to assume people generally have good intentions. That’s a good quality, but it doesn’t mean we should stop asking questions. Always consider what someone’s agenda might be and what’s in it for them.
People without thought sovereignty are often called sheeple. They simply think and do whatever the television networks, advertisers, fashion retailers, politicians, or governments tell them to do.
Nothing makes us more dependent on others than our food supply.
The average Canadian buys nearly 100% of their food from a grocery store. Unfortunately, I have to include myself in that category.
Growing a garden is one of the best steps you can take toward greater independence. From there, the possibilities are endless. Raise chickens. Plant fruit trees. Learn to preserve food. Produce what you can.
Food sovereignty isn’t just about saving money.
It’s about knowing where your food came from, improving its nutritional value, and becoming a little less dependent on the modern food system.
The food you eat also affects every other pillar. Better food improves your health, reduces medical costs, and often requires you to think more critically about what you’re consuming.
It destroys marriages. It traps people in jobs they hate. It quietly replaces freedom with monthly payments.
When it comes to debt, just say no.
Maintain control of your finances.
Don’t automatically put every dollar into an RRSP simply because your bank tells you to. There are certainly times when RRSPs make sense—especially if your employer matches contributions—but they aren’t the only way to build wealth.
Resist the movement toward a cashless society where every dollar can be monitored, controlled, or switched off.
Hold some cash.
Own silver and gold.
Invest in assets that produce long-term value, whether that’s efficient equipment, farmland, houses, productive land, or your own business.
Most importantly, think for yourself financially instead of blindly following the talking heads on television, the salespeople at your bank, or the bureaucrats in Ottawa.
If you’re interested in building more financial independence, you’ll probably also enjoy my article on Foreign Real Estate Investing for Canadians.
Being Canadians, most of us have never known anything other than government-run health care.
I’m neither a lover nor a critic of the Canadian system.
It’s adequate.
By that I mean it’s generally very good at testing, diagnosing, and treating illness.
Where I believe it falls short is prevention.
The medical industry doesn’t make money from healthy people. Pharmaceutical companies don’t promote healthy living—they promote treating illness after it appears.
I believe your health is ultimately your own responsibility.
Eat well.
Exercise.
Stay active.
Learn about nutrition.
Prevent disease wherever possible instead of simply assuming medicine will solve every problem later.
Canadians should also understand that healthcare options exist outside our borders. Sometimes looking elsewhere is the best decision for your own situation, which is why I’ve written about Medical Tourism for Canadians.
These four pillars are the foundation of personal sovereignty.
I’m nowhere near perfect myself. I work on all four every day, and I expect I always will.
Personal sovereignty isn’t something you achieve overnight.
It’s a direction.
Every skill you learn, every debt you eliminate, every tomato you grow, every dollar you save, and every independent decision you make moves you one step closer.
After writing much of this article I listened to an excellent discussion by Jack Spirko on The Survival Podcast (Episode 985: From Pawn to Personal Sovereignty). I found it extremely inspiring, and if these ideas interest you, it’s well worth a listen.
Do you agree or disagree with these recommendations?
Are you working toward greater personal sovereignty yourself?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I live in the Vancouver area and recently viewed the video that takes a deep look at vehicle speeds, road safety, police ticketing, and how the media puts a spin on a story.
A major conclusion that is reached is that people drive with a speed that is reasonable for the road’s design, the weather and light conditions, and the capability of themselves and their vehicle. The only reason that the white speed limit signs play a role at all is because they are afraid of being ticketed. I have always been of the opinion that people are better off concentrating on the people and traffic around them, and having to watch their speed while looking out for the cops is dangerously distracting. While reading this you will notice that I also agree that speed kills your pocketbook.
As pointed out in the video, there are times where some of the speed limits make sense.
School zones, tight urban streets, narrow residential streets with children nearby, and downtown access routes with heavy rush hour congestion. Speed bumps are effective at this as well though.
It also makes sense that the speed limit could be higher for a dry road in day time, and then changed for nighttime, fog, rain, or other dangerous conditions. Say a speed limit of 130, 140, or 150 km/h on the freeway during a dry day, but dropping to 120 at night, 110 when wet, or 80 when it is foggy. You don’t have to have fancy digital signs to accomplish this – all it takes is some static signs and education.
The example in the video is a perfect one. Marine Drive is a well engineered and constructed road. Three lanes in each direction, smooth surface, and wide curves – sounds like a 70 or 80 road right? Nope its speed limit is 50 km/h in Vancouver, exactly the same as many narrow, crowded routes heading to and from downtown. There is no comparison between the speeds I drive and my safety on the tow roads. I don’t remember driving under 70 on Marine, unless weather and traffic dictate that it would be smart to do so. But Main St is a different story, with cross roads, traffic lights, cross walks, merging busses, right turners, left turners, parallel parkers, pedestrians, and probably a dozen other road hazards. My speeds on this street vary from 30 to 60 for the most part – hitting 80 on here would be reckless unless it was closed off to the public as part of a movie set.
I have worked hard in my life and am blessed to have purchased a nice car. I have also owned old pickup trucks, rented cheaper cars, and driven heavier shop vehicles.
There is no comparison between these vehicles when it comes to brakes and stopping distance, handling, tire quality, weight distribution, or all around effect on the safety of myself, my passengers, or drivers and pedestrians around me.
Why then, should I drive them at the same speed or have the same speed limit enforced. My sports sedan can stop in 1/2 or 1/3 of the distance that my old pickup or shop trucks can. Conversely I could probably drive 40km/h faster in my car than in the truck, and still stop in the same distance.
Some roads do have different speed limits for cars and transport trucks, and I applaud this. But these are typically on freeways where stopping distance is less of a worry than on city streets, biways, or highways. The practicality of different speeds for different vehicles is, admittedly, difficult to enact – but in this day of traffic police knowing everything about us from their laptops anyways, this is certainly worth discussing.
I can’t be the only one who thinks that some speed limits are enforced to help fill the gaps in police budgets. A sort of involuntary user funding. This is the most likely reason I can think of for the continued existence of the Marine Drive 50km/h zone. In fact, in the video you will see how the Vancouver Police Department brags about the number of people it catches on Marine Drive during speed blitzes. During the creator’s research, not a single car was going 50, in fact I believe that the average speed was around 70. So when then does it seem that the speed is more intensely enforced on Marine than on Main? Is it to dissuade speeders or is it to generate revenue? A police car sitting by the road is just as effective at slowing down cars if traffic safety is their real desire.
I have lived and driven in Germany and other parts of the world. Travelling at 180 on the AutoBahn is not a big deal there. The cars are made for it, the drivers are trained and experienced with it, and the roads are properly designed and constructed. Oh and 180 is just a suggestion, some will drive at 150, some at 200. People drive within their ability, their car’s capability, the traffic, and the weather conditions. Signs slow people down when necessary, and this condition-induced limit is enforced. Did I mention that the accident and fatalilty rate is much lower there than here? The video presents the specifics figures – and they are significant. My personal experience is that I feel much safer on a two lane Autobahn at 170 than I don on the #1 or 401 at 120 – because I am paying attention to my driving, as are others, and none of us are bored out of our minds and daydreaming due to the artificially low speed for the driving conditions. In fact, I find that the only thing I am looking out for on those highways is a police car, because I really don’t feel like contributing to their slush fund.
Read the engineers’ speed recommendations, they are unilaterally more capable at setting them than politicians, civil servants, and others who just happen to find themselves in that position. The recommendation that I saw was to set the speed at the 85th percentile speed of a large sample group. Well I think that’s a reasonable place to start. Just try it and watch the results, debating and predicting does little compared to real world results. If the traffic is going to drive that speed anyways, then this is the prudent thing to do. If this equates to 70 on Marine, then so be it. In fact, removing the 50 signs and changing to 70 would increase the safety on the road, since it would limit the possibility of people driving 20km/h below the flow of traffic in fear of the police enforced driving tax. Irrationally slow traffic is one of the most dangerous obstacles that I encounter on the road – especially when they stay in the left lane. This causes other drivers to step on their brakes, pass on the right “undertake”, tailgate, or perform a number of other driving maneuvers that are much, much more dangerous that ‘speeding’
Germany’s “No Speed Limit” Sign
In support of the movement to raise speed limits on some roads, there are education & petition websites for BC and Ontario – please visit them if you want to learn more or to let this voice be heard.
Sign the BC Petition
Sign the Ontario Petition
Do you have an opinion on speed limits? Have you received a ticket due to an unreasonable speed limit? Are police in your area hiding to try and catch ‘speeders’ just in the name of revenue generation? Or is your opinion different – I’d like to hear it as well. Please comment below.
Below is a list of skills the help to promote self sufficiency. This isn’t a post for reading, but it is more of notes that I make as I think of things, hear a suggestion on a podcast, or read of something interesting on the web.
This list will be ongoing and I will add to it regularly.
Of interest are occupational skills, survival & bushcraft skills, homesteading skills, etc.
What is a self-sufficient Canadian? What does it actually mean to be self sufficient?
To me, it means having the ability to take care of yourself and your family while accepting full responsibility for your own life. The life you’re living today is largely the result of your own choices, and only you can change its direction.
I believe in having the skills and experience to produce your own food, protect yourself and your loved ones, avoid unnecessary debt, and never become trapped in a job simply because you need the money. It means accepting responsibility for your own health and well-being instead of expecting someone else to do it for you.
You should not become dependent on the government or others for social welfare, remain ignorant of the food and drink you put into your body, or ignore the steady erosion of your personal freedom and liberty.
The terms self-reliance and self-sufficiency are often used interchangeably, but I see a slight difference.
You can be self-reliant for a period of time.
True self-sufficiency means you’ve built a life that can sustain you and your family indefinitely.
Disaster preparedness, survival skills, and bushcraft are all skills worth learning. They’re not just hobbies—they’re practical abilities that make you less dependent on everyone else.
Producing your own food is one of the foundations of self sufficiency.
Gardening, permaculture, aquaponics, raising chickens or ducks, and keeping livestock are all ways of moving toward that goal. The sooner you start experimenting, the sooner you’ll get your mistakes behind you and begin learning what actually works.
Hunting, fishing, and foraging for wild edibles are valuable additions to your food skills as well.
Nothing is more satisfying than sitting down with your family to eat a meal that you completely produced and prepared yourself.
In my opinion, that’s also the most addictive part of becoming self sufficient.
Ultimately, you are responsible for your own safety.
Own firearms if you choose, become proficient in their use, maintain an adequate supply of ammunition, and understand the laws surrounding their use.
But firearms are only one part of self-defence.
Be aware of your surroundings. Carry practical tools where legal and appropriate. Learn martial arts such as MMA, Kickboxing, Judo, Jiu Jitsu, or Krav Maga.
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever heard is simple:
Don’t go stupid places and do stupid things with stupid people.
That one sentence alone will prevent a surprising number of problems.
Food, water, fuel, and other essential supplies should always be available.
Canadian weather can be unpredictable, especially during the winter. Every family should be able to survive at least a few weeks without needing to visit a grocery store.
The long-term goal should be several months.
Preparedness isn’t just about surviving snowstorms. It helps you get through job loss, disease outbreaks, transportation disruptions, power outages, or even some of the more far-fetched breakdowns in society that people like to debate.
It’s simply another way of reducing your dependence on others.
You can’t honestly call yourself self sufficient if every aspect of your life depends entirely on the electrical grid and public utilities.
Have backup power.
Know how to use your vehicle as an emergency generator.
Explore renewable energy such as solar, wind, or micro-hydro if your property allows it.
Store fuel safely.
Have an alternate source of water.
As an engineer by training—and by mentality—I’ve always enjoyed optimizing home energy systems. Heat water with solar panels, cook on propane or charcoal, heat with wood when necessary, and be able to keep your freezer and refrigerator running during an extended power outage.
Health, fitness, and wellness are all part of self sufficiency.
Be physically capable of doing the jobs life demands of you. Chop firewood. Walk twenty kilometres if you have to. Go hunting. Work around your property. Protect yourself if necessary.
Health matters just as much.
Many modern diseases are linked to poor diet, pollution, inactivity, and stress. Eat natural foods. Stay active. Take care of yourself.
Modern medicine has incredible capabilities when we suffer traumatic injuries, require surgery, or need treatment for serious disease.
Prevention, however, is largely your responsibility.
Nobody cares more about your health than you do. It’s your responsibility, and I believe Canadians should understand all of their healthcare options instead of assuming the public system is the only answer. Sometimes that means looking beyond Canada’s borders for treatment when appropriate. That’s one of the reasons I encourage Canadians to learn about Medical Tourism for Canadians.
Financial independence is just as important as physical self sufficiency.
Learn about money, investing, banking, government, politics, taxes, and why debt is financial cancer. Question conventional financial advice, and recognize that RRSPs sold by the banks aren’t the only way to build wealth.
Develop multiple sources of income whenever possible.
Whether it’s weekend handyman work, consulting, running an internet business, or selling products you’ve made yourself—eggs, vegetables, furniture, clothing, leather goods, or artwork—every additional income stream makes you a little less dependent on someone else. If you’re comfortable in your career, consider whether you should optimize your job, acquire a business, or build a side hustle.
I also recommend learning about international investing and owning assets outside Canada, offshore incorporation, and reducing your financial exposure to any one country. Putting all of your eggs in one basket has never been a good strategy.
Real estate can also be part of that diversification. My guide to Offshore Real Estate for Canadians explores many of the countries where Canadians are investing today.
This is my view of what it means to be a self-sufficient Canadian.
You don’t have to become a tinfoil-hat-wearing doomsday prepper.
You don’t have to move to a commune and live off the land.
You simply have to accept one basic idea:
You are responsible for yourself and your family.
Once you truly accept that, you’ll naturally begin building a life that depends less on others—and especially less on the government.