Google searches for “How to move to Canada” increased in the US as the country elected Donald Trump as the next president. According to a report by Newsweek, Google Trends data showed a 400% surge in these searches on election night, with the highest interest coming from states that strongly supported Vice President Kamala Harris, including Vermont, Oregon, and Washington. This suggests that many Americans may be considering relocation options in response to the election outcome.
Image credit: X
Image credit: X
Other top keyword searches in the US post election
Searches for “move to Canada” also surged following the confirmation of Trump’s victory in the US election, the report adds. Related keywords like “moving to Canada requirements” and “moving to Canada from US” also saw major spikes, with some searches increasing by over 5,000 per cent, as per Google Trends data, the report adds.
Social media posts about moving to Canada from the US also started appearing.
“I’m packing my bags and moving to Canada,” one user wrote on X (earlier Twitter).
Meanwhile, another posted information that can help Americans to immigrate to Canada.
Also, after Trump’s 2016 election win, Canada’s immigration website crashed due to an huge surge in traffic.
Apart from Canada, a few other countries were also popular among Americans searching for relocation options. Japan, Brazil, and Costa Rica ranked among the top destinations in these “moving to” searches.
Canada’s new immigration policy
This surge in these Google searches follows Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent announcement of plans to reduce the number of permanent immigrants allowed into Canada in 2025. According to reports, Trudeau aims to decrease immigration by 21%, 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 noted.