Skip to footer

Flee Trump, find love: Canadian dating site calls to American singles

Maple Match pairs Americans and Canadians in an effort to help American 'refugees' move to Canada. "Make dating great again," the site promises. 

|
Chris Wattie/Reuters
The Canadian flag flies in Nunavut, a sparsely populated territory in northern Canada. A dating website is the latest social media venture that is inviting Americans to migrate north should Donald Trump be elected president of the United States.
  • By Madison Margolin

As Donald Trump gears up to win the Republican nomination, some Americans are beginning to consider moving to Canada should they feel the need to flee the country after the November presidential elections. And with the help of Maple Match, Canada just got more attractive.

Promising to "Make dating great again," the dating site MapleMatch.com "makes it easy for Americans to find the ideal Canadian partner to save them from the unfathomable horror of a Trump presidency."

As the new site gains momentum, Maple Match gives users the opportunity to Tweet about its service: "Looking for a #Canadian to shack up with in case of a #Trump victory? Join the movement at @MapleMatch!"

And while Maple Match may seem like a silly rouse facetiously poking fun at the prospect of a "President Trump," it offers a very real service to no small number of Americans. According to a Tweet by Google data editor Simon Richards, after Super Tuesday, Google searches inquiring how to move to Canada surged by 1,150 percent after it became clear Mr. Trump could very well be on the Republican ticket.

More than 4,200 people have signed up for Maple Match since its launch earlier this month, 70 percent of whom are Canadians, and the page has already garnered over 36,000 views.

"We thought it might really be a good idea to start this before another wall gets built," Joe Goldman, the Texan chief executive officer of Maple Match, told the Winnipeg Free Press.

Maple Match isn't the only effort to help potential Trump refugees flee America. As promised on the website, Cape Breton if Donald Trump Wins, the Canadian island of Cape Breton is ready to welcome United States expatriates with open arms.

"Hi Americans! Donald Trump may become the President of your country!" the website reads. "If that happens, and you decide to get the hell out of there, might I suggest moving to Cape Breton Island!"

Americans entertaining Canadian citizenship can fill out an online questionnaire to determine whether or not they are eligible. Having a Canadian degree, specializing in certain professional trades such as caregiving or electrical wiring, and knowing a Canadian, either by blood or marriage (that's where Maple Match might come in) can improve eligibility.

Potential Canadian citizens would start with permanent residency and stay in the country for at least 1,460 days (about the same length as an American presidential term) before applying for citizenship. Since the early 2000s, when George W. Bush became president, about 8,500 Americans have immigrated to Canada each year. Before President Bush, that number was closer to 5,000.

"We often get asked if Maple Match is something like a joke or a hoax," Mr. Goldman told the Winnipeg Free Press. "Frankly, Donald Trump is a joke. Finding someone and meeting them and finding a place where you can be happy is real."

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Flee Trump, find love: Canadian dating site calls to American singles
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2016/0510/Flee-Trump-find-love-Canadian-dating-site-calls-to-American-singles
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe