Canada Isn’t America’s Plan B
Canadians warn: fleeing U.S. turmoil isn't enough. If you're coming north, leave American exceptionalism behind or risk bringing the collapse with you.
Learning Through Crisis and Who Gets to Leave
Throughout history, moments of national reckoning have forced people to confront who they are and what they’re willing to sacrifice. In America, the rise of authoritarianism, political violence, and the erosion of democratic institutions have left many feeling trapped inside a country that no longer resembles their values. For some, this has triggered fantasies, and in some cases, serious plans, of fleeing to Canada.
But here's the uncomfortable truth: fleeing is a luxury, and Canadians are watching.
As Americans wrestle with the terrifying possibility of things getting worse under Trump, civil collapse, secession, and state-level tyranny, the instinct to protect one’s children and escape has become understandable, even admirable. Yet north of the border, the instinct is tempered by a growing mix of sympathy, suspicion, and resistance. Canada, for all its openness, is not a mirror image of the United States, and it certainly isn’t America’s escape hatch.
What follows is a reflection of how Canadians truly feel about this exodus in raw, complicated terms. It's about what we can learn from each other, what we stand to lose, and how we move forward without importing the very collapse people are running from.
The Compassion Instinct and Its Limits
To be clear, many Canadians understand why some Americans are considering the move. Fear is a powerful motivator, and the threats faced by progressive families, people of colour, LGBTQ+ individuals, academics, and dissenters in the U.S. are escalating. Mass deportations are no longer fringe policies; they're being openly discussed. Americans are beginning to live in fear of their neighbours, their government, and even their children's future.
Canada has always opened its doors to those fleeing instability. Vietnamese boat people, Chilean exiles, Syrian families, and most recently, Ukrainians, these newcomers have enriched Canadian society. Their stories of resilience resonate deeply with the national identity Canadians hold dear.
So when Americans say they are in danger and want to seek a better life for their families, many Canadians feel empathy. The instinct to protect one's children, to find peace, to live with dignity, these are human impulses.
But there's a caveat, and it's growing louder.
We Are Not the 51st State
Canada’s compassion is not unconditional. There is a growing weariness of being seen as America’s safety valve, a place people turn to only when things fall apart. This frustration is compounded by years of watching Americans make jokes about “moving to Canada” every time an election doesn’t go their way, without understanding the real Canada they claim to admire.
Canadians are increasingly asking: do you want to become Canadian, or do you just want to bring America with you?
Our political systems, cultural norms, and national priorities are fundamentally different. We value “publicly funded” healthcare, collective responsibility, and compromise. We have stricter gun laws, less litigiousness, and a deeper respect for multicultural governance, including Indigenous sovereignty. Canadians fought hard for these norms and are not interested in importing the polarization, individualism, and paranoia that define American politics today.
Those who wish to come must leave behind the “every man for himself” and “hate thy neighbour” ideologies. This is about shedding the corrosive parts of an identity that helped produce the very crisis they’re fleeing.
The Draft Dodgers and the Modern Migrants
There is precedent. During the Vietnam War, tens of thousands of draft dodgers found refuge in Canada. Many Canadians at the time were wary of them, too. However, over time, those young men and their families proved that they were here to contribute. They enriched the country through their activism, their art, their work ethic, and their humility.
The question is whether modern American migrants can follow that example or whether they will arrive expecting to be saved without doing the work.
This isn’t 1969, and Canada is currently facing a housing crisis. Our public systems are stretched. Cultural integration is still underway for hundreds of thousands who arrived in recent years. We do not have the capacity for an unexamined influx of people who simply view us as an easier life raft.
National Security Isn’t Just a Military Issue
There is also the deeper fear, the one that keeps surfacing in dark undertones. If the U.S. collapses, or fragments, or turns on itself in open violence, who are we taking in? Refugees? Fifth columnists? Expatriates or “expatriators”?
This fear is not unfounded, knowing Americans are not a monolith. Not everyone seeking entry to Canada will be a dissenter. Some may be opportunists, some may be saboteurs, and others may simply be carriers of deeply ingrained cultural habits that, in aggregate, could begin to erode Canadian social norms from within.
When Trump supporters speak of annexing Canada, or when armed militias suggest a “united North American Christian nation,” Canadians take note. When the moderates and liberals who once dismissed such threats as “overblown” suddenly want to jump ship, there is resentment. If you didn’t stop it there, why should we believe you’ll defend anything here?
The Real Work of Belonging
There is a path forward, but it begins with humility. Americans who want to come to Canada need to understand that they are not entitled to it. Immigration is not a right; it is a privilege. Those who come must be prepared to contribute, to adapt, and to defend the values of a society not their own.
This means working in healthcare, trades, or other sectors where help is needed. It means learning about Indigenous treaties and sovereignty. It means accepting higher taxes in exchange for universal care. It means checking one’s privilege, stepping back from American exceptionalism, and understanding that Canada is not just a milder version of the U.S.; it is fundamentally different.
It also means giving up on the fantasy of Canada as “Plan B.” If you come only to escape, you will bring the very decay you are running from. However, if you come to rebuild alongside us, then you are needed.
What Kind of Country Do You Want to Build?
We are at a tipping point. The choices we make in the coming years will define not just our borders but our identities. Canada has a proud tradition of helping those in need. But that help is not passive. It requires participation.
For Canadians, this is a moment to clarify who we are and what we will protect. For Americans, it is a moment of reckoning: to stay and fight for your country or to seek shelter elsewhere, but not without cost.
If you're an American reading this and thinking of coming to Canada, ask yourself: are you coming to take or to give? Are you escaping or transforming? Are you running or rebuilding?
If you're a Canadian reading this, reflect on the balance between empathy and protection. Between our identity as a safe haven and our responsibility to preserve what makes us worth fleeing to in the first place.
We need each other now more than ever. But only if we are honest about where we’ve been, what we’ve failed to stop, and what we still have the power to build.
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