WINDSOR, ONT. -- When Donald Trump won the U.S election in 2016, many Americans threatened to flee across the border to Canada.
With less than a week to go until the 2020 election, some Americans are still considering that option.
“Having Canada next door is my way out,” says Therese Yglesias, a school teacher in Southwest Detroit.
“Another four years of Trump and you can bet that I’ll be looking to take up residency in Canada, if you’d have me,” she says.
Yglesias says President Trump’s handling of immigration, loose gun laws and COVID-19 have made her think about moving to an area she knows quite well.
Raised in Southwest Detroit, she would ride her bike over the Ambassador Bridge, and has had a cottage in Wheatley for the past 20 years.
“Having that refuge has helped me get through the last four years,” Yglesias explains to CTV Windsor.
According to recent figures from Immigration Canada, in 2015, a little over 6,800 Americans tried to apply for permanent residency in Canada, followed by just over 7,700 in 2016.
But in 2017, the year of Trump's inauguration, that figure jumped to over 9,000.
The number has yet to dip below 8,700 in the years since, although 2020 is on track to fall far below the years previous
Immigration lawyer Drew Porter says interest in moving to Canada is nothing new ahead of a U.S. election.
“I get calls from both sides of that divide and I have had a number of calls from people that are concerned about the Trump administration,” says Porter.
“The issues are quality of life and I think we have that in abundance here in Canada. Taxes, which is another question and health care.”
Porter says about 60 per cent of Americans he speaks to don’t eventually relocate.
Yglesias has yet to speak to a lawyer about possibly relocating, should Trump win a second term as president.
“If he does win again, hopefully, we’ll take the senate and the house and we’ll impeach him,” she says.
