If you Want to Move to Canada, Don’t Check Out the Canadian Immigration Website

After the devastating news that Donald Trump will be the next president, so many Americans looked into moving to Canada that the country’s main immigration website crashed. New Zealand was also a popular choice for American citizens looking to flee the country. The Canadian website was down several times on Tuesday night as it became clear that Trump was taking the lead.

The Canadian Immigration website has crashed. Seriously. #ElectionNight pic.twitter.com/XXSfCorTd1

— Cause We’re Canadian (@MadelnCanada) November 9, 2016

Lisa Filipps from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada told CNN that the website crashed due to the high number of visitors, but that they were working on getting it up again. It topped Google’s search statistics, along with “how to impeach a president.”

”How to move to Canada” and “how to impeach a president” were just some of the breakout Google queries last night https://t.co/Lw8ATkiyNQ pic.twitter.com/fIYNSfxyoJ

— Fast Company (@FastCompany) November 9, 2016

Many celebrities, like Amy Schumer, Cher, Lena Dunham and Samuel L. Jackson, have threatened to move north if Trump won. On Tuesday night, comedian Ben Schwartz was going to joke about an overloaded immigration website, only to realize it was actually happening.

I was gonna write this as a joke but found out it was real. “The Canada Citizenship and Immigration site crashed around 8 PM” #electionnight

— Ben Schwartz (@rejectedjokes) November 9, 2016

And some Canadian towns even started marketing themselves at Americans, like the island of Cape Breton on the east coast that promoted itself as a safe and quiet refuge for Americans wishing to escape in case Trump won. New Zealand’s main immigration website received 1,593 registrations from the U.S. since November 1, more than 50 percent of what it usually sees over the course of a month.

But it’s not as easy as you may think to just “go move,” even if you are an American. The rules are pretty similar to immigration laws in the U.S. You need a job offer, a spouse, to be wealthy, or a winning ticket in a citizenship lottery. And first of all–you need to get on to the website.

Some Trump supporters had their own ideas about where to go if Trump didn’t win.

I’M MOVING TO RUSSIA IF TRUMP LOSES

— MADAME (@MagicRoyalty) August 23, 2016

But as some people pointed out, you could make more of a difference not by fleeing but by moving to a swing state.

Hey liberals: don’t move to Canada.
Move to Ohio, Florida, North Carolina.

— Dred (@MildredVon) November 9, 2016

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.