Americans hoping to escape four more years of President Bush by moving to Canada should be prepared to get a job and wait in line, just like immigrants from any
other country.
Some people disgruntled with the outcome of the Nov. 2 presidential race have since broached the idea of moving across the border, but don’t expect an exodus anytime soon — obtaining a permanent visa to live in Canada takes about a year.
America’s neighbor to the north offers not only hockey, but a public health care system, legalized same-sex marriage and looser marijuana laws similar to those desired by some of the more left-leaning voters in last week’s election.
Despondent U.S. citizens have a few options when considering a move northward. U.S. citizens can visit Canada for up to six months, but need a permit to stay longer. All long-term immigrants need either a work permit sponsored by a Canadian business or to apply for residency as a skilled worker, which requires applicants to have had at least one year of paid, full-time work experience within the last 10 years.
Permanent residency in Canada doesn’t come cheap. Applicants for permanent residency should be prepared to fork over a $460 application fee, about $800 for the right to become a permanent resident and miscellaneous fees to cover medical examination and language testing. Single skilled-worker applicants must also have about $8,200 saved up to pay for living expenses while they search for a job.
Applicants for Canadian citizenship must have lived in the country for at least three years. Citizenship applications also take about a year to process.
Some people interested in immigrating also hire legal representatives, such as Vancouver, British Columbia-based immigration lawyer Rudi Kischer. Kischer, who charges $250 for his consultation, said his office has received dozens of inquiries and that interest in moving to Canada is “absolutely huge.” Kischer said many of his clients are professionals in their late 30s, although some people with teenage sons are also interested because of worries about the reinstatement of a military draft.
“It’s definitely a mix,” he said.
Kischer added that many college students are probably not eligible to apply for skilled-worker status immediately after college because
of the one-year work experience
requirement.
Kischer plans to hold seminars in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles to brief people on Canadian immigration because of intense interest in the subject, according to a Nov. 10 article by the Canadian Press.
While Americans may not be immediately flocking across the border, they are visiting Canada’s main immigration Web site in record numbers, with the site receiving a six-fold increase in U.S. hits the day after the election, according to a Nov. 5 article by Reuters. The Web site, www.cic.gc.ca, usually receives about 20,000 visits from U.S. citizens a day, but traffic jumped to 115,016 U.S. visitors on Nov. 3, according to the report. U.S. visits dropped to 65,803 on Nov. 4.
Last year, Canada accepted 5,990 immigrants from the United States, which ranked sixth in total immigrants after the Philippines, with 11,978, and Pakistan, with 12,330.
The U.S. consulate in Toronto estimates that 1 million Americans may already be living in Canada — many of whom aren’t registered — according to a Nov. 3 article by The Associated Press.
This isn’t the first time Americans have looked to Canada for refuge. Some 125,000 Americans opposed to the draft and the Vietnam War fled to Canada between 1964 and 1977, according to a Sept. 8 report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Many of the “draft dodgers” returned after President Jimmy Carter offered amnesty in 1977, but the 1986 census showed that about half stayed in Canada, according to the report. Activists in Nelson, British Columbia are planning to erect a bronze sculpture, to be unveiled in 2006, honoring those who came to Canada and resisted the Vietnam War.
As grave as would-be immigrants’ concerns may be, not everyone is taking the situation seriously. The provision in Canada’s immigration code that hastens the citizenship process for people who marry Canadians prompted the publisher of a Toronto magazine to create www.marryanamerican.ca, a satirical Web site dedicated to matching “Canadian singles, tired of the dating scene” with a “sexy American liberal.”
“Open your heart, and your home. Marry an American,” the site implores. “Legions of Canadians have already pledged to sacrifice their singlehood to save our southern neighbours from four more years of cowboy conservatism.”

[email protected]