Could a northern exodus happen in the near future? 'Move to Canada' saw a big uptick in Google searches by Americans after the U.S. presidential debate. A lot of our neighbours to the south are wondering how they can come up here but they might not be able to just yet.
Editor's Choice: Canada's New Map Tool Shows You COVID-19 Trends From Where You Live
Why do Americans want to move to Canada?
It seems that the first U.S. presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden on September 29 has sparked an interest in moving for a lot of Americans.
Topics like climate change, racial justice, COVID-19, mail-in voting and the Supreme Court were debated by the two vying for the job.
They both talked over each other quite often and it got heated at one point when Biden actually said, "Will you shut up, man?"
Based on Google Trends data, searches for "move to Canada" in the U.S. spiked by a lot between 8-10 p.m. ET that night which was just before the debate started and just before it ended.
Then, the next morning from 5-7 a.m. ET, there was another surge in searches for "move to Canada."
It seems some Americans woke up with a post-debate hangover and started wondering how to get out of their own country.
Related searches like "can U.S. citizens travel to Canada" and "I want to move to Canada where do I start" increased by more than 100% recently as well.
Which states are the most interested?
Americans in some states are more interested in and curious about moving to Canada than others.
Oregon is where the search has been the most popular after the debate.
That's followed by Vermont, Washington, Colorado, Minnesota, Maine and Idaho.
Most of those places share a border with Canada.
Oregon isn't a border state but it's far north enough that it's pretty close to our country.
Colorado is where the "move to Canada" search has been popular that's the furthest south.
Can Americans just come here?
While Americans are increasingly searching up how to move to Canada, it's a bit complicated.
The Canada-U.S. border closure agreement has been extended to October 21 so our neighbours can't just pack up their cars and head north.
There have been reports that the non-essential travel ban will last into November.
That being said, it's not like they can come over and stay forever once the border reopens; they'd have to get some type of visa first.
As people in our neighbouring country are trying to figure out if they're going to move here, some Canadians were tweeting about how glad they are to not live there.
The phrase "as a Canadian" even began trending on Twitter with so many people offering their opinion on the debate as outsiders.