After Donald Trump’s win in the 2024 United States presidential election, there has been a significant spike in Google searches by people interested in leaving the country and moving to Canada.
Why are Americans searching for “How to move to Canada”?
The search term “How to move to Canada” has notably increased following Trump’s election, due to concerns among some Americans about potential changes in immigration policy.
With Trump set to become the next US president, he has made promises about large-scale deportations. This has put Canada on “high alert” as officials anticipate a possible rise in unauthorised border crossings from the US.
Trump’s deportation stance is reminiscent of his first term following his win in the 2016 presidential election, during which thousands of people, including Haitians, crossed into Canada after losing certain protections in the US.
Which US states show the highest interest in moving to Canada?
Google Trends data reveals that searches for “How to move to Canada” jumped by 400 per cent on election night (Nov 5), with the highest search interest coming from blue states (whose voters vote predominantly for the Democratic party) such as Vermont, Oregon, and Washington.
Other related searches, including “moving to Canada requirements” and “moving to Canada from US,” also spiked. Some searches saw an increase of over 5,000 per cent on the day that Trump’s victory was confirmed, according to Google Trends.
How is Canada’s border security responding to potential migration changes?
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Sergeant Charles Poirier confirmed that Canadian border security is on high alert. “All of our eyes are looking at the border to see what’s going to happen,” he said, adding that Trump’s immigration policies could lead to more “illegal and irregular migration” toward Canada.
This comes just days after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced plans to reduce the number of permanent immigrants in 2025. According to reports, Trudeau mentioned Canada would cut its permanent immigration target by 21 per cent, from 500,000 to 395,000.
“We are acting today because of the tumultuous times as we emerged from the pandemic, between addressing labour needs and maintaining population growth, we didn’t get the balance quite right,” Trudeau said.
(With inputs from agencies)