Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to secure the Republican nomination and get re-elected to the White House is stirring up something of a panic south of the Canada-U.S. border among some celebrities who say that would be enough for them to leave the country – forever.
Pop icon Cher is among them.
“I almost got an ulcer the last time,” the singer reportedly told Rolling Stone magazine in October.
It’s déjà vu all over again.
Back in 2016 when Trump made his successful bid for the presidency, at least 20 celebrities made a similar pledge to leave the United States rather than live through his presidential term. Some vowed to move to Canada.
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Singer Miley Cyrus posted on Instagram at that time: «My heart is broken into a 100000 pieces…I am moving if [Donald Trump] is my president! I don’t say things I don’t mean!»
Emmy Award-winning director, actress, and producer Lena Dunham pledged to move to Canada.
«I know a lot of people have been threatening to do this, but I really will,” Dunham vowed prior to the 2016 presidential election. “I know a lovely place in Vancouver.”
None of those 20 celebrities who made that promise to leave the United States in the wake of a Trump presidency did so, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
So, it’s at best unclear whether a second Trump presidency would lead to any sort of exodus of American celebrities to Canada – or any other countries in the world.
But Trump’s 2016 victory was enough to create enough of a surge in traffic on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) website that it crashed as “move to Canada” and “immigrate to Canada” spiked on election night.
And even if the movers and shakers in Hollywood didn’t relocate to Canada, immigration to Canada from the United States to Canada did rise during the Trump presidency.
The latest IRCC data reveals that immigration to Canada by Americans went from 8,485 new permanent residents from the United States in 2016 to 9,140 the following year and then to 10,895 in 2018.
That was a bump up of 28.4 per cent in immigration to Canada from the United States during the first few years of Trump’s victory.
The COVID-19 pandemic put the brakes on many people’s travel and immigration plans in 2020, causing immigration from the United States to Canada to fall off markedly, but then it surged back to life in 2021 with 11,955 new permanent residents to Canada being Americans moving north.
That was during the term of current U.S. President Joe Biden.
Since then, American immigration to Canada has slowed down a bit, falling back to 10,635 new permanent residents to Canada in 2023 being expat Americans.
Canada and U.S. Vie For The Most Talented Tech Workers
Ottawa is ever eager to lure immigrants, particularly those in the tech sector, to Canada from the United States – or simply to entice foreign nationals who are thinking of immigrating to the United States to choose Canada instead.
In June last year, Ottawa announced its Tech Talent Strategy, introducing new measures and improvements to existing programs to help Canadian employers attract and retain tech talent.
Developed in collaboration with Canada’s tech, start-up and business communities, the Tech Talent Strategy offered an open work permit stream specifically targeted for those foreign nationals working in the United States with H-1B specialty occupation visas. It also provided work and study permit options for the workers’ family members.
It was a strategy expected to remain in place for one year but it was so popular it immediately capped out at 10,000 applications on day one.
Under the Tech Talent Strategy, Ottawa pledged to also launch an Innovation Stream under the International Mobility Program (IMP)by the end of 2023 to attract even more highly talented foreign nationals to Canada.
That Innovation Stream was to include:
- employer-specific work permits for up to five years for workers destined to work for a company identified by the federal government in Canada as contributing to the country’s industrial innovation goals, and;
- open work permits for up to five years for highly skilled workers in select in-demand occupations.
The Tech Talent Strategy also promised a return to the 14-day service standard for work permits under the Global Skills Strategy.
Americans hoping to immigrate to Canada can do so under six categories of programs. Those include the:
- federal economic class.
- provincial economic class.
- Quebec immigration.
- business immigration, including the start-up visa program.
- temporary residence first, then transition to permanent.
- family class sponsorship
Canada’s federal economic class programs are the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW), Federal Skilled Trades (FST), and Canada Experience Class (CEC).
PNP Nomination Adds 600 Points To An Applicant’s CRS Score
Canada operates the federal economic class immigration system using Express Entry system which requires candidates to submit a profile, with the highest scoring profiles issued Invitations to Apply (ITA).
Candidates then get 60 days to submit a full application.
Under Express Entry, candidates score Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points for core factors such as age, education, work experience and language ability.
Foreign nationals hoping to immigrate to Canada can also come under Canada’s Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP), including:
- Ontario Immigration
- Quebec Immigration
- Alberta Immigration
- British Columbia Immigration
- Manitoba Immigration
- New Brunswick Immigration
- Newfoundland Immigration
- Nova Scotia Immigration
- Saskatchewan Immigration
- Prince Edward Island Immigration
Americans who do not qualify through a federal economic program can consider provincial streams for their applications for permanent residence and improve their odds because a PNP nomination adds 600 points to a CRS score.
Each one of Canada’s provinces runs their own immigration programs, targeting the specific demands of local labour markets.
Quebec has autonomy over its immigration system, with the right to set its own immigration levels and the power to operate its own programs.
Canada also aims to attract entrepreneurs and investors through its business immigration programs, with many applications accepted from the United States.
At the federal level, options include:
Canada’s SUV offers Canadian permanent residence to qualified immigrant entrepreneurs. The program targets innovative entrepreneurs and links them with private sector investors in Canada who will help establish their start-up business.
Candidates can initially come to Canada on a work permit supported by their designated Canada-based investor, before qualifying for permanent residence once their business is up and running.
Start-Up Visa Is The Preferred Program Of Immigrant Entrepreneurs
There are three types of private-sector investor under that program that can help finance a foreign entrepreneur:
Candidates looking to immigrate to Canada from the United States may also consider the Buy a Business and Move to Canada Program.
Federal owner-operator rules allow a candidate to buy a business and move to Canada on a temporary work permit, before transitioning to permanent residence further down the line.
Under this policy, a work permit is issued following the sale and transfer of the majority share ownership of an existing profitable Canadian business to the immigration candidate.
Increasingly, immigrants are coming to Canada as temporary residents and transitioning to permanent residents. This is a popular route for candidates who do not immediately qualify for permanent residence when applying from the United States.
Time spent in Canada as a temporary resident counts towards a permanent residence application.
Work permits are issued through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), International Mobility Program and International Experience Canada (IEC) program.
Caregivers also have their own streams for work permits (under the TFWP) and transition to permanent residence.
