More and More Americans Express Desire to Move to Canada Due to Upcoming Election and COVID-19 Pandemic
With the U.S. presidential election only weeks away, more and more American’s are looking to find a new country to call home, namely, Canada.
During the presidential debate between the current president, Donald Trump, and Democratic nominee Joe Biden on September 29, data from Google showed that the search term “move to Canada” experienced a significant increase in traffic.
Immediately following the debate (which was described by many as “chaotic”), traffic dipped to normal levels, but by the next morning, as clips from the debate when viral across the internet, searches picked back up again.
The data from Google does not reveal the exact number of searches that took place, but clearly demonstrates an increase compared to before the debate took place.
The states that were most interested in immigrating to Canada included Oregon, Vermont, Colorado, Washington, and Minnesota.
Searches for “move to New Zealand” also increased during the debate, but did not experience the same amount of traffic as “move to Canada.”
Comments on social media from users expressing interest in immigrating to Canada also increased, with one Twitter user expressing that the debate “is a 90-minute commercial for Canada,” and receiving thousands of likes.
This should not come as a surprise, as this is not the first time Americans have expressed interest in moving to Canada during an election. During the 2016 election when Trump was elected, many Americans, including celebrities, indicated they would move to Canada if Trump was elected. It is not known how many actually followed through.
Global News also reported that immigration lawyers in Canada reported a large number of Americans inquiring about immigrating to Canada during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unfortunately, Americans looking to say goodbye to the United States will have to wait, as U.S. residents are currently barred from crossing the border into Canada due to travel restrictions put in place to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, if Canada’s recent Throne Speech is any indication, Americans wishing to start their new lives in Canada will be welcome with open arms once the COVID-19 travel restrictions are lifted.
“Canada has an opportunity as we recover to become the world’s top destination for talent, capital, and jobs,” Governor General Julie Payette told Parliament.
“When people choose Canada, help build Canada, and make sacrifices in support of Canada, we should make it easier for them to formally become Canadian.”
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Arghavan Gerami
Arghavan Gerami is the Founder and Senior Counsel at Gerami Law Professional Corporation ('PC'), a full-service immigration law firm in Ottawa, Ontario. Since 2011, Ms. Gerami has focused her practice on immigration and refugee litigation. Prior to that, Ms. Gerami worked at the Ministry of Attorney General and the Department of Justice and had the privilege of serving the Honourable Mr. Justice M. Evans at the Federal Court of Appeal on immigration and administrative law appeals. Ms. Gerami contributes to the Immigration Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Ms. Gerami has also published numerous journal articles and presented at various immigration and refugee law conferences and events across Canada.