The first generation that's had to seriously ask: why stay?
The night of June 27th, as the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden wound down, something else spiked alongside the commentary: Google searches. Americans, by the tens of thousands, started typing 'move to Canada,' 'move to Italy,' 'move to Portugal.' By morning, the graphs looked like mountain peaks. The relocation industry had been waiting for exactly this.
For companies that specialize in moving U.S. citizens abroad, the debate was less a political event than a starting pistol. Montreal-based Moving2Canada, which has tracked these surges since 2016, reported that inquiry volume tripled in the days following the debate. The pattern is familiar — similar spikes hit in November 2020 when Biden won, and the biggest one of all came when Trump was first elected eight years ago. But the people running these firms say something feels different this time around.
Rebecca Major, operations manager at Moving2Canada, fields calls from skilled workers — people with post-secondary credentials who qualify for Canadian work visas — who want to get ahead of any potential immigration policy changes under a new administration. But it isn't only career calculations driving the calls. Major hears about gun legislation. She hears about reproductive rights. She hears from people who say they no longer see themselves reflected in the leadership of their country. 'In general, people become disheartened,' she said, describing clients who look northward toward a country they perceive as familiar but more aligned with their values.
What Major also tells those callers is that Canada is no longer the easy option it once seemed. The immigration system has changed substantially since 2016, she says, and the assumption that working in the U.S. automatically makes Canada accessible is simply wrong. The process is competitive, the paperwork is real, and if Trump wins and a wave of Americans decides to move at once, the competition gets steeper. Her advice: start researching now, and check whether your employer has a Canadian branch — that may be the most direct path.
Across the Atlantic, Alex Ingrim runs Chase Buchanan USA from Florence, Italy, helping Americans — typically between 45 and 65 years old — settle in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and France. He manages around 70 clients and a portfolio worth roughly $70 million. Since the debate, his inquiries jumped by about a third. Ingrim, himself an American, launched the Texas-headquartered firm with a partner two years ago and has since heard from Democrats and Republicans in roughly equal numbers.
What Ingrim finds striking is that his clients aren't usually citing specific policies. They're describing an atmosphere. The relentlessness of the news cycle. The exhaustion of living inside a political environment that has, as he puts it, degraded quality of life in ways that go beyond the cost of groceries. 'If you're no longer working and you could choose to live anywhere in the world,' he asks, 'why would you choose to live in the U.S. now?' He frames this as a genuinely new question — the first generation of Americans who have had to seriously confront it.
At the wealthier end of the spectrum, the picture is similarly charged. Grahame Salt, director of Homes of Quality at Frank Salt Real Estate Group in Malta, says interest from high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth Americans is at an all-time high. Malta draws this crowd partly through its tax structure: the top income tax rate sits at 35 percent, a full ten points below the UK's top rate, and foreign income remitted into Malta is taxed at a flat 15 percent. Citizenship through property investment requires spending at least €700,000 and holding the asset for five years; residency through investment requires at least €750,000 after twelve months.
Salt describes clients who are scared — some of Trump, some of the Biden administration — and who want what he calls a Plan B. American traffic to his agency's website has grown steadily in recent months, now ranking as the third-largest source of visitors. Beyond politics, Salt points to gun violence and crime as recurring themes in client conversations. The wealthy aren't just moving themselves; families are relocating children, diversifying assets into euro-denominated markets, hedging against what some see as an uncertain American economic future.
All three specialists agree on one thing: political events don't create the desire to leave so much as they accelerate plans already forming. The debate, the assassination attempt, the general atmosphere of a country that feels, to many of its citizens, like it is pulling in irreconcilable directions — these are triggers, not causes. The causes have been building for years. What the relocation industry is watching now is whether the inquiries convert into departures, and whether the bureaucratic realities of immigration — slower, more competitive, more demanding than most Americans expect — will temper the impulse or simply delay it.
Notable Quotes
People just assume that if you work in the U.S., Canada is automatically an option — that's definitely not the case anymore. It's highly competitive.— Rebecca Major, operations manager, Moving2Canada
The political environment has deteriorated people's quality of life. It's not just the cost of living — it's that if you're no longer working and could live anywhere, why would you choose the U.S. now?— Alex Ingrim, Chase Buchanan USA
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What's actually new here — Americans threatening to leave has been a running joke for decades.
That's exactly what Ingrim says too. But he draws a distinction between the threat and the follow-through. More people have been genuinely open to retiring abroad since the pandemic, and the political environment has given that openness a sharper edge.
So is this mostly retirees, or are working-age people moving too?
Both. The Canada inquiries skew toward skilled workers who want to get ahead of immigration policy changes. The European inquiries tend to come from people in their mid-forties to mid-sixties — people who have the financial flexibility to actually go.
Why Malta specifically for the wealthy?
Taxes, mostly. Malta's top rate is 35 percent, and foreign income brought into the country is taxed at a flat 15. For someone managing significant assets, that arithmetic is hard to ignore.
Does it matter which party someone supports? Are these all Democrats fleeing Trump?
Ingrim says no — his clients split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. Salt in Malta echoes that. Some are scared of Trump, some of the Biden administration. The common thread is the polarization itself, not a particular candidate.
What's the biggest misconception people have when they start looking into this?
That it's easy. Canada especially. Major at Moving2Canada is emphatic: the system has changed substantially since 2016, it's highly competitive, and assuming your U.S. work history automatically qualifies you is a mistake that wastes time.
Is there something almost philosophical happening here beyond the politics?
Ingrim thinks so. He frames it as a generational shift — the first cohort of Americans who are genuinely asking why they would stay if they don't have to. That's a different question than 'I'm angry about the election.' It's quieter and probably more durable.
What should someone actually do if they're seriously considering this?
Start early, Major says. Check whether your employer operates in Canada. Research visa pathways before the political moment that might trigger a flood of competing applicants. The window between intention and action is narrower than most people think.