The Number of Americans Moving to Canada in 2006 Hit a 30-Year High

By MARCUS BARAM

July 31, 2007
ABC News

Blame Canada!

It may seem like a quiet country where not much happens besides ice
hockey,
curling and beer drinking. But our neighbor to the north is proving to
be
quite the draw for thousands of disgruntled Americans.

The number of U.S. citizens who moved to Canada last year hit a 30-
year
high, with a 20 percent increase over the previous year and almost
double
the number who moved in 2000.

In 2006, 10,942 Americans went to Canada, compared with 9,262 in 2005
and
5,828 in 2000, according to a survey by the Association for Canadian
Studies.

Of course, those numbers are still outweighed by the number of
Canadians
going the other way. Yet, that imbalance is shrinking. Last year,
23,913
Canadians moved to the United States, a significant decrease from
29,930 in
2005.

"There has been a definite increase in the past five years, the number
hasn't exceeded 10,000 since 1977," says Jack Jedwab, the
association's
executive director. "During the mid-70s, Canada admitted between
22,000 and
26,000 Americans a year, most of whom were draft dodgers from the
Vietnam
War."

The current increase is fueled largely by social and political
reasons, says
Jedwab.

"Those who are coming have the highest level of education, these
aren't
people who can't get a job in the states," he explains. "They're
coming
because many of them don't like the politics, the Iraq War and the
security
situation in the U.S. By comparison, Canada is a tension-free place.
People
feel safer."

One recent immigrant is Tom Kertes, a 34-year-old labor organizer who
moved
from Seattle to Toronto in April.

Kertes attributes his motivation to President Bush's opposition to gay
marriage, and the tactics employed during the war on terror since
9/11.

"I wanted a country that respected my human rights and the rights of
others," he says. "We joked about it after Bush won re-election, but
it took
us a while to go through the application."

Kertes, who moved with his partner, is happy in his new home. "Canada
is a
really nice country. My mother is thinking about it. My stepfather has
diabetes and has health issues. So, he'd be taken care of for free if
he
moved up here."

Indeed. More sick people who want socialized medicine should move to
Canada
too. -- DSH

Not that Kertes doesn't get homesick every once in a while. "I have no
intention of giving up my citizenship. I have an American flag at home
on
the wall, I didn't have that in Seattle. All of a sudden, I'm a
nationalist. On the Fourth of July, I really missed being home."

Hilarious! What an insipid fool. -- DSH

Jo Davenport, who wrote "The Canadian Way," moved from Atlanta to Nova
Scotia in December 2001. She also cites political reasons for her
move,
saying that she disagreed with the Bush administration's decisions
after
9/11.

"Things are totally different here because they care about their
people
here," she says, explaining that she's only been back home once or
twice.