‘Not as easy as you think:’ Moving to Canada to avoid Trump

TORONTO: After Joe Biden's disastrous TV statement with Donald Trump, erstwhile the president's reelection prospects began unravelling, Vancouver migration lawyer Randall Cohn started getting calls from Americans.

It was the archetypal “panic period” among radical anxious astir different Trump medication and funny successful moving to Canada.

“The surge reduced a small spot aft (Kamala) Harris became the nominee, and past I got different surge successful the past mates weeks,“ Cohn told AFP.

Following Trump's November 5 victory, Google Trends reported a much than 1,000 percent summation successful US-based searches connected moving to Canada.

After his 2016 win, elevated postulation crashed Canada's migration website.

The improvement of left-leaning Americans becoming “Canada-curious” aft a Republican predetermination triumph predates Trump.

There were akin media reports erstwhile Ronald Reagan bushed Jimmy Carter successful 1980.

Experts enactment the fig of Americans who person really uprooted and moved to Canada due to the fact that of an predetermination effect is hard to quantify but is understood to beryllium low.

Immigrating to Canada is difficult, and by immoderate measures, harder present than ever.

“Somebody with nary pre-existing transportation to Canada is going to person a really, truly hard time,“ Jacqueline Bonisteel, a spouse astatine the Corporate Immigration Law Firm, told AFP.

- Can't bargain residency -

Cohn said helium has gotten calls from “fairly wealthy” radical distraught by Trump's comeback who consciousness “entitled to beryllium mobile.”

“They privation to fundamentally bargain the happening from the paper that volition get them imperishable residence successful Canada,“ helium said.

“I efficaciously person to accidental it’s not arsenic casual arsenic you deliberation it is and there's nary mode to bargain residency.

Shanthony Exum, a erstwhile Brooklyn nonmigratory who moved to Montreal during the pandemic earlier the 2020 election, described migration arsenic “daunting...exhausting (and) expensive.”

The 42-year-old creator offered caution to Americans eyeing Canada for governmental reasons.

“Trump's policies are terrifying to maine but that wasn't the crushed I moved,“ she said.

Exum had a long-standing fondness for Montreal and was visiting the metropolis arsenic New York City's Covid dormant were being stored successful refrigerated trucks.

Then her Brooklyn landlord sold the spot wherever she lived, truthful she decided to effort staying successful Canada.

Her emotion of Montreal steadied her done an arduous migration process.

“It’s easier to tally toward thing that distant from something,“ she told AFP.

- Asylum claims -

Waves of Canadian citizenship applications from distraught Democrats whitethorn beryllium unlikely, but experts hold Canada could look much exile claims.

Sean Rehaag, manager of York University's Centre for Refugee Studies, has noted the fig of US citizens who sought asylum successful Canada spiked erstwhile Trump archetypal took office.

In 2016, 129 Americans made exile claims successful Canada. That jumped to 869 successful 2017 and 642 successful 2018.

Rehaag has written that those 1,500 were “mainly the children of radical fearing deportation owed to a alteration of their migration presumption aft spending years successful the United States.”

Given Trump's pledge to usage the US subject to transportation retired a wide deportation of undocumented migrants, Canadian authorities person said they are connected alert for ample movements of radical towards the border.

If a wide deportation happens, “you’re going to spot a important summation of the measurement of radical who are crossing into Canada irregularly,“ said Cohn.

But exile laws person besides changed since Trump's archetypal term.

The Safe Third Country Agreement betwixt Canada and the United States was expanded successful 2023, making it harder for anyone coming from the US to assertion asylum successful Canada.

Underpinning the statement is the conception that Canada views the US arsenic safe, truthful individuals not entitled to exile presumption determination are improbable to merit extortion successful Canada either.

The statement was already taxable to Canadian ineligible challenges and immoderate reason Trump's predetermination makes it much untenable.

“It doesn’t conscionable our standards for however we should beryllium treating people,“ said Jamie Chai Yun Liew, an migration adept astatine the University of Ottawa, citing cardinal quality successful however Canada views susceptible groups, including claims related to gender-based unit oregon sex diversity.

She urged the Canadian authorities to “take a bully look astatine what Trump... has done successful the past” and what helium is proposing for his adjacent term, and see reviewing the pact.