Passport yes, but you don't need a visa or visa extension of any kind. I don't where he's getting that info from but it doesn't pertain to Canadians.
But yes the 8840 form is not mandatory but definitely essential and could save you a lot of hassle both at the border and with the IRS
I believe the Canadian retirement Visa is not in effect yet and would really only apply to visits longer than 6 months anyways as we are already entitled to 180 days. But then you can lose your provincial health benefits for longer than 6 months. Also I thought the federal gov't was going to try and restrict retirement benefits also to people who were living out of country
Thank you !!