Thousands of Canadians emigrate to the United States: “The country is no longer what it used to be”
Data compiled over there CBC show that more than 120,000 people living in Canada transported their homes to the United States in 2022, an increase of almost 70% compared to 2012, notes the Canadian public broadcaster. According to the US Census Bureau, more than 53,000 of them were born in Canada, “a figure significantly higher than in the past”, note it CBC. The rest were Americans returning home and foreign-born people choosing to live in the United States.
Given that approximately 800,000 Canadians were based in the United States in 2020, the CBC judges that“there is nothing new about Canadians moving south of 49e parallel for love, work or warmer weather”. But real estate agents and lawyers specializing in immigration put forward other reasons to explain this new exodus, in particular the quest for a place where the cost of living is lower.
“With Trudeau, I have to get out of here”
But there’s another big factor, says Marco Terminesi, a Canadian working in real estate in Florida: “People call me to tell me ‘With Trudeau, I have to get out of here.’” He says he stayed on his phone all year:
“Most of these people tell me that the reason they are leaving Canada is politics.”
Monica Abramov, originally from the province of Ontario, plans to move to Florida with her husband and their three sons in the coming months. She shares her eagerness to buy a more affordable house and cheaper groceries: “I really think we are unfortunately going in the wrong direction: crime rates, car thefts. The health care system is in rapid decline, year after year. Canada is no longer what it used to be,” she declares.
Exploding cost of living
“In just three years, rents and food have increased by almost 40%,” laments the Toronto Star. The Numbeo statistical data collection site noted yet the cost of living in Canada is on average 8.5% lower than in the United States, and rents 19.7% lower. There CBC notes, however, that the tax burden is less heavy in several American states.
Len Saunders, an immigration attorney practicing in Washington state, interviewed by the CBCnotes “a massive influx of Canadians” in the USA. According to him, the main problem cited is the cost of housing. “There is a reason why so many people make this choice, reasons Monica Abramov. This is a call to Canada to wake up and try to keep its residents.”
