The Canadian Parliament ratified on Tuesday a bilateral Social Security Agreement, which allows citizens from both countries to receive their pension regardless of where they live.

Prime Minister Edi Rama noted that the law will enter into force on August 1.

Thousands of Albanians are expected to benefit from the agreement, as also a number of Canadians who live and work in Albania.

Based on the agreement, citizens no longer risk losing their years of contributions at work, regardless of whether they have worked in Canada or Albania.

For example, Albanian citizens will have the opportunity to get a retirement pension plan from Canada but chose to live in Albania.

The agreement came after a long period of negotiations, a process that saw its first days back in 2013.

The Albanian Parliament ratified the agreement in September 2019.

Albania does not have a similar agreement with its neighbor Greece, or Italy, although thousands of hundreds of Albanian nationals live there.