Visits to Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Website Spike on Super Tuesday

In the midst of the United States Presidential campaign period, social media has been a venue for Americans to joke about moving to Canada in the event that a candidate they dislike becomes president.  However, on March 1, 2016,  Super Tuesday, data retrieved from Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s website revealed the seriousness of such social media jokes.

Over 15,000 webpage sessions were recorded from American internet service providers (ISP) between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., with almost 68,000 that day. The previous Tuesday, in comparison, had approximately 4,400 between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., and 48,000 throughout the day.

Overall, more than 26,000 people using U.S. ISP addresses visited the website in a four-hour period during Super Tuesday.

Google searches for “moving to Canada” also spiked on March 1st, with even more searches on Wednesday, March 2nd.

Liberal Government Seeks to Repeal Parts of Bill C-24

On February 25, 2016, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister John McCallum introduced legislation to amend the Citizenship Act.  The Bill, An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act, endeavours to provide more flexibility for applicants attempting to meet citizenship requirements and help immigrants obtain citizenship faster.

If passed, the Bill would repeal provisions that allow citizenship to be revoked from dual citizens who partake in acts against the national interest. The rationale behind the repeal is that all Canadians who commit crimes should face the consequences of their actions through the Canadian justice system. McCallum added that Canada has a justice system to deal with terrorism cases. However, the government will continue to be able to revoke the citizenship of those who have committed citizenship fraud (e.g., lying on their application).

The Bill also proposes to reduce the time permanent residents must be physically present in Canada before qualifying for citizenship by one year.  Furthermore, the Bill would credit applicants for the time spent in Canada as temporary residents or protected persons. Lastly, the age range to meet French or English language requirements and pass a knowledge test to qualify for citizenship, would change to 18-54 from 14-64.

McCallum stated that the government hopes to pass the the new law as soon as possible and maintains that these changes support the Liberal government’s goal of removing barriers for immigrants to build successful lives in Canada.