With the U.K. Tories scoring a majority win and Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowing to get Brexit done, it seems like some Britons are seeking greener — or colder — pastures.
Searches in the U.K. for ‘moving to Canada’ spiked significantly on Dec. 12, according to Google.
Johnson campaigned on a “get Brexit done” slogan. The result for Thursday’s election was the Conservative Party’s strongest showing since Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, with 365 Tory MPs elected to the 650-seat House of Commons.
Johnson called the election result “a powerful new mandate” to end three years of Brexit uncertainty and move forward with the country’s long-stalled deal to leave the European Union.
It’s not the first time residents of another country have set their eyes on Canada in the aftermath of a polarizing election.
In March 2016, Google searches for moving to Canada spiked after Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton moved closer to becoming their respective parties’ presidential candidates on Super Tuesday.
After the U.S. election in 2016, American applications to universities in Canada also increased.
Canada isn’t the only contender for Britons upset with five more years of a Conservative government.
Online interest for ‘move to Scotland’ also saw a similar spike on Dec. 12. So did ‘move to Denmark’ and ‘move to France.’
In 2017, there were 5,293 people from the U.K. and its overseas territories admitted as permanent residents of Canada, according to data posted online by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
That same year, Canada admitted more than 286,000 permanent residents, with more than half of them (56 per cent) granted entry under economic programs. The U.K. was one of the top 10 source countries in 2017.
Information on how to immigrate to Canada can be found here.
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