American interest in Canadian citizenship is spiking again
WASHINGTON — Canada's next-door neighbors want to move in.
In the hours after Donald Trump's presidential victory, American interest in Canadian citizenship is soaring.
Canada's immigration department has "experienced an increase in web traffic originating from the United States, compared to typical volume on a Wednesday," spokesperson Julie Lafortune told POLITICO.
And while Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said it doesn't systematically track direct inquiries to its office, Lafortune added: "Anecdotally, we can confirm we've seen a spike in questions from U.S. citizens reaching out today."
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada offers foreign nationals an online road map on how they might legally reside in Canada.
For example, a skilled American worker willing to live in one of the Canadian Atlantic provinces — New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador — could expect an eight-month processing period and fees starting at $1,525 Canadian.
"Anyone can apply for temporary or permanent status in Canada, provided they meet the qualifications," Lafortune said. "There are a number of avenues that applicants can consider in order to remain in Canada on a temporary or permanent basis.
Other indications abound that some Americans harbor dreams of becoming expats during Trump's return to power.
For most of the past week, the Google search term " Canadian citizenship " barely registered among U.S.-based users, never exceeding a score of "7" on Google's relative "interest over time" scale, which ranges from 0 (little interest) to 100 (extraordinary interest).
But as more and more Tuesday night election results indicated a Trump win was likely, Google's "Canadian citizenship" search score began to skyrocket — "21" at 10 p.m., "31" at 11 p.m. and "77" at 3 a.m. Wednesday after Trump had declared victory, according to Google Trends.
By 7 a.m. Wednesday, after The Associated Press called the presidential race for Trump, the score had reached 100 out of 100 — Google does not release raw search number data — and remained high throughout the day.
Related search terms such as " immigrate to Canada ," " Canada immigration process " and " how to move to Canada " experienced similar spikes after Trump's victory, Google Trends indicated.
Google users in the United States likewise registered abnormal numbers of searches on Wednesday for terms including " Irish citizenship ," " moving to Australia ," " how to move to New Zealand " and " political asylum ."
Trump detractors broadly fear that the former president's return to the White House will mean across-the-board reductions in American freedoms and civil liberties, particularly for women, minorities and LGBTQ+ Americans. Rights ranging from abortion to library book access rank among their concerns.
Of course, few Yankees who dream of a tony high-rise apartment in Toronto or Calgary, or a quaint farmhouse on the rural outskirts of Moose Jaw or Medicine Hat, will actually follow through.
But the Association of Americans Resident Overseas estimates that more than 1 million Americans already live in Canada, as of 2023.
On Wednesday, Vivian Jenna Wilson, the transgender daughter of billionaire Trump benefactor Elon Musk, announced in a Threads post that she doesn't see her "future being in the United States."
Trump has also indicated he'd use the Department of Justice and other means to seek retribution against perceived political foes enshrined on an " enemies list ."
As for people who've emigrated to the United States, Trump, whose inauguration is slated for Jan. 20, has foreshadowed implementing a draconian U.S. immigration policy that includes militarizing the nation's partially walled border with Mexico and the mass deportation of undocumented migrants.
Such policies could potentially affect millions of people living in the United States. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump telegraphed his desire for police and military forces to identify, detain and expel people living in the United States illegally. He wants to sharply restrict asylum .
Canada — the world's second-largest country in geographic size, with a population of just over 40 million — has a long history of welcoming newcomers to its 10 provinces and three territories.
But last month, the CBC reported that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would cut the number of new permanent residents to from 485,000 this year to 395,000 in 2025.
The number of new permanent residents allowed would further decline to 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027 under Trudeau's plan.
"Canada is an open country" and people "see a lot of hope in coming to Canada," Immigration Minister Marc Miller told reporters in October.
But Miller added that the Canadian government "realized importantly that we have to have a managed migration system that makes sense for everyone, including newcomers that we need to set up for success."
