Under U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, Americans aren’t just looking into the possibility of moving to Canada, some are actually doing it.
It’s moving day for a couple who decided to start a new life in Montreal.
It’s something they first discussed several years ago. CTV News has agreed to use the pseudonyms “Kyle” and “Dan” as the openly gay couple is concerned about their privacy and safety while in the U.S.
“They could overturn same sex marriage exactly the same way that they overturned the right to choose,” said Kyle.
When gun violence touched their son’s school, it gave them another reason to move north.
“We want to give him the best possible outcome in life, so yeah, it’s worth it,” said Dan.
Another couple, Phil Kean and Brad Grosberg, left Florida for Quebec a few years ago and are now permanent residents.
“The first time Trump was elected, I saw a lot of our rights as a gay couple go backwards,” said Kean. “If you look at Canada as a whole, it’s a great place for LGBTQ folks to retire and to feel included. And it’s just a wonderful country.”
In the last two years, the U.S. has dropped from 35th to 48th place on the gay travel index of safest countries for LGBTQ2S+ people to visit. Canada is ranked number one.
“A lot of Americans are inquiring more about immigration, something that I have not seen that steadily in my 29 years of doing this,” said Quebec-based immigration lawyer Jean-Philippe Brunet.
He adds that some Americans are even looking up their family tree to see if they could qualify for citizenship in Canada.
“It includes the larger LGBTQ community. However, it’s not limited to it. And, we’ve had also both sides of the political spectrum, Republicans and Democrats, being interested in knowing a little more about their options,” said Brunet.
While some like Kyle and Dan have work permits, Brunet says for others the process is more complicated.
The federal and Quebec governments have been limiting the number of new temporary residents, including foreign students, even pausing several immigration programs.
Despite that, mover Chris Bell says he’s been moving more Americans to Canada since the U.S. election – and snowbirds too.
“They’re selling their homes in the U.S. to come back to Canada full time,” said Bell.
Kyle and Dan are learning French and hope they can stay permanently to build their new life in Canada.
“We feel safe. We feel secure. We feel welcome,” said Kyle.
