Moving to Canada? Here’s what you need to know before you go

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The United States’ northern neighbor is a magnet for disgruntled Yankees looking for a new place to live following an election that doesn’t end how they wished it would, and the outcome of the Obama-Romney race wasn’t any different. Except, perhaps for the reality many anti-Obamacare migrants will have to deal with when faced with a socialized healthcare system if they do indeed move north.

Canada has detailed information online about how to emigrate available online. News aggregating pioneer The Week covered the issue earlier this week in its story “Can you really move to Canada if your candidate loses?” and reported:

[T]hreats to move northward end up falling flat as Americans confront the hoops they need to jump through to get in,”says Emily Sohn at Discovery News. “Statistically, numbers of immigrants don’t actually peak every four years.” The last time there was a significant immigration wave from America to Canada was during the Vietnam War, when many fled to escape the draft.

The complicated nature of moving to another country doesn’t put a damper on social media activity. Twitter was abuzz with promises to move north before and after the race was decided late Tuesday:

If Obama wins I'm moving to Canada #GoMitt

— max lavigne (@mr_wipemedown47) November 7, 2012

https://twitter.com/frank_dichiara/status/266008733098835968

If Obama wins I'm moving to Canada.. #RomneyRyan2012 #nobama

— Kennedi (@kennedileigh_16) November 6, 2012

My dad is honestly looking for houses in Canada to move to if Obama gets elected again. You guys I'm legit moving to Canada if Obama wins…

— Taylor Sexton (@taylorcsexton) November 2, 2012

If Obama wins I'm moving to Canada. Canadian bacon for me! #RomneyRyan2012 please help us all

— Tory Nicole (@ToryNicoleHurst) November 7, 2012

If Obama wins I'm moving to canada

— Alec Walker (@WalkrTexasRangr) November 7, 2012

These eager emigrants would likely be surprised that the politics they find from Vancouver to Newfoundland would make a poetry slam in Berkeley, California look downright square. According to The National Post, if the election was up to Canadians President Obama would carry 78% of the vote.