As exit polls began to suggest a second term for Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election, many Americans expressed interest in relocating abroad. Google search data revealed a significant surge in queries related to emigration in the hours following the closure of East Coast polls on Tuesday. Searches for “move to Canada” skyrocketed by 1,270%, while New Zealand saw an increase of nearly 2,000%, and Australia experienced a jump of 820%.
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By late Wednesday evening on the East Coast, searches related to emigrating were reaching all-time highs for all three countries. Although Google does not provide specific search volume numbers, data from Immigration New Zealand indicated a stark rise in U.S. traffic to their website, with approximately 25,000 new U.S. users on November 7, compared to just 1,500 on the same day the previous year.
Immigration lawyers reported a surge in inquiries as well. “Every half hour there is a new email enquiry,” said Evan Green, managing partner of Green and Spiegel, Canada’s oldest immigration law firm. This uptick in interest reflects the uncertainty some Americans felt following the election results, with many considering relocating to countries they see as offering a more favorable political climate.
