Americans moving to Canada due to Donald Trump’s election announcement for 2024 is prevalent and Canadian immigration is rising from the U.S.A. Free Trade agreements, such as CUSMA, make it convenient for U.S. citizens to come and work in Canada.
However, the main question is whether Americans choose to move to Canada due to the ongoing political tensions in the U.S.A.
Impact of Trump’s tenure in the U.S.
Between 2016 and 2021, Canadian immigration increased by 33 percent due to Donald Trump’s tenure. Not to forget that his tenure marked a period of massive political turmoil within the U.S.A.
Notably, the phase after the end of Trump’s election, the IRCC’s official website invited excessive traffic from the U.S. and crashed due to the immense load. Mostly this happened due to individuals making payments for Electronic Travel Authorizations. eTA acts as a travel document and is mandatory for those traveling from the U.S. to Canada. Hence, it implies that a considerable number of Americans were planning to visit Canada in the federal election in 2016.
Looking at the above perspectives, it is essential to move to Canada because of the increase in political turmoil. However, we must look deeper into this side of the story.
A significant change in 2015- Americans moving to Canada
One of the most significant changes that took place in 2015 after Trump’s election and the political turmoil and, consequently, American immigration occurred.
Express Entry consists of three principal economic programs and is a prominent immigration pathway for skilled foreign workers. The Foreign Skilled Worker Program, the Canadian Experience Class, and the FSTP are the economic immigration streams. These certainly help Canada enhance the number of foreign skilled workers moving to Canada annually.
Overall, the introduction of Express Entry in 2015 is the principal factor due to which the immigration graph went upward from the U.S.
Additionally, Canada introduced more pathways so that skilled workers can effortlessly settle in the country. Apart from this, in 2015, 31,000 individuals moved to Canada using the Express Entry pathway. Moreover, this figure increased to 89,000 in 2019. Hence, this increase in the immigration figure suggests that Canada has leveled up its economic immigration.
The rise in immigration from 2015 to 2020 indicates that several economic immigration pathways came into existence.
American citizens and Residents- the real debate
Those who immigrate to Canada from America are mostly temporary residents. They are neither permanent residents nor Citizens.
Comparatively, Canada has more immigration pathways that are reliable and consistent than the U.S.A. Canada has proper and prominent pathways, including Express Entry and Provincial Nominee Programs. Moreover, since 1990, the U.S. only admits up to 144,000 newcomers annually using the economic immigration program.
Talking about the U.S.A., the new permanent residents have their spouses and family members, along with the green card holders, incorporated within 144,000 immigrant visa distributions. Notably, economic immigrants turn out to be lesser than 144,000.
As a result, several Americans prefer moving to Canada because this country has increased its immigration target by up to 500,000 newcomers every year. Also, these immigration targets get updated every three years.
Due to the rise in immigration from the U.S. to Canada, it is impossible to deny the impact of political tension prevalent in the U.S.A. But this is not the only reason why immigration levels have increased in the U.S.A, as the other reason was the Canadian policy changes in 2015. Contrarily, the U.S.A.’s economic immigration policy remained stagnant, and this also resulted in a recent rise in immigration.
