News Flash – Canada Doesn’t Want You
In the days following the election, Americans, particularly American celebrities, began voicing their opinions on “moving to Canada.” Unfortunately, our Canadian neighbors aren’t too thrilled with the idea.
“As a Canadian, all I can say is sorry #America, but you can’t run from your mistakes. You made your bed. #Election2016 #Canada,” Twitter user Matt Cruz posted on Wednesday.
Other Canadian Twitter users followed Cruz’s lead.
Keep Canada great, bro.
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) November 10, 2016
https://twitter.com/patstuart08/status/796409483211767814
https://twitter.com/mylesconnect/status/796378214675320833
Especially Girls’ Lena Dunham.
https://twitter.com/NotNenshi/status/796249015373484032
@lenadunham off you go and we Canadians don't want you.
— Dave (@Dave_LT) November 9, 2016
According to HeatStreet, and a few Twitter posts, Canadians are talking about building their own wall to keep immigrants from America out of their pristine country.
https://twitter.com/eldahshan/status/796183854801416192
In addition to the rumors and sly jokes, the CBC – Canada’s state-owned broadcasting network – is trying to actively discourage a mass migration.
On Tuesday, Nov. 8, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada website crashed around 11 p.m. due to what a department spokesperson called “a significant increase in the volume of traffic.” According to the CBC, the department later confirmed that more than half of that surge was due to American users.
In total, 200,000 users were on the website when it crashed.
https://twitter.com/MRamosTV/status/796199664404090880
Heather Segal, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer, told CBC News on Wednesday that she “absolutely” has had American inquiries about relocating to Canada during the U.S. election campaign.
“It started off like a trickle,” Segal said, noting that the immigration inquiries “progressively increased” within the last few weeks.
Halifax immigration lawyer Lee Cohen also commented on the surge.
“Wanting to come does not entitle you to come,” Cohen said.
“They’re [Americans] surprised that they would have to go through the quite rigorous … application process.”
The CBC claims that American citizens think that the big move will be an easy one considering both Canada and the U.S. are English-speaking countries that share pop culture.
Earlier this year, Canadian radio announcer Rob Calabrese created a website encouraging Americans to move to Cape Breton – population 100,000 – should Trump win the election. The site initially started as a joke but ended up snowballing into an unofficial public relations campaign for the island. According to The Guardian, the site has racked up more than two million hits and has received countless emails from curious, Canada-bound Americans.
Calabrese warned those who are seriously interested in migrating north to prepare for an arduous process.
“Even if you have a job, even if you are married to a Canadian … It’s not easy,” Calabrese told the CBC on Wednesday.
Although Canada has committed to accepting 300,000 immigrants in the coming year, approximately 120,000 of those spots will be given to reuniting families and refugees, with the remaining slots going to skilled workers.
US political refugees welcome to relocate to East Kootenay BC start a biz hire people pay taxes #ElectionNight #bcpoli #USElection2016 pic.twitter.com/r0keWGXnMg
— Bill Bennett (@KootenayBill) November 9, 2016
“Immigrating to Canada is a complex, paper-intensive, time-consuming process,” immigration lawyer Lee Cohen told CTV News this week.
“This notion that somebody can just decide to move to Canada and live here is misdirected.”
Even so, some have managed to make the big move happen. According to The Guardian, David Drucker moved from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Vancouver following George W. Bush’s second election. Drucker spoke with the CBC earlier this year, noting that the immigration process has become much more difficult since he made the move 11 years ago.
“It is one thing to want to go. It is another to pick up and leave,” Drucker said in a CBC interview.
“You have to put everything on a van and then you have to get the van across the border. Do you have kids in school? Have you got an elderly parent to take care of or a set of parents? Are you going to be able to adjust to a new culture? There’s so many things that have to line up.”
[Featured Image By frwooar/Thinkstock Photos]
