But while American liberals are convinced they’ll find a safe haven from “fascism” north of the border, many Jewish Canadians, alarmed by the recent explosion of antisemitism, have drawn the opposite conclusion.
Distressed by the second Trump administration, some American liberals are now moving, or contemplating a move, to Canada.
“ I’ve never had so many Americans call and say, ‘This isn’t my country,’ or, ‘I don’t know what to expect,’ or, ‘I’m afraid,’ or, ‘I’m worried,’” said immigration lawyer Heather Segal, in an interview with National Review.
Among those who’ve left the U.S. for Canada are Yale University professors Marci Shore, Timothy Snyder, and Jason Stanley. In a video essay for the New York Times titled “We Study Fascism, and We’re Leaving the US,” Shore appeared to compare Trump’s America to Nazi Germany, saying “The lesson of 1933 is: You get out sooner rather than later.”
But while American liberals are convinced they’ll find a safe haven from “fascism” north of the border, many Jewish Canadians, alarmed by the recent explosion of antisemitism, have drawn the opposite conclusion.
As Americans flee north, they’re headed south.
I Don’t Have to Live Here
Georganne Burke, a veteran political strategist based in Ottawa, is among the Canadian Jews who are fleeing. Burke was born in the U.S. and moved to Canada in 1987. After making the effort to obtain Canadian citizenship, she’s now moving to Florida, where she already owns a home.
Burke told National Review it was her Jewish lifestyle that first brought her to Canada from Buffalo, N.Y.
“ The U.S. city we lived in didn’t have a Jewish high school. [So] we decided Toronto was a good choice. It was because we had multiple choices of schools for our kids, a big Jewish community that we could live in, and it was not too far from where we were living. So it was perfect for us,” she said.
Fast forward almost 40 years, and she’s now planning to return to the U.S., citing both antisemitism and a rise in rabid anti-Americanism that has emerged in Canada following the swearing in of Donald Trump, a man Burke openly supports.
“I have received a series of really nasty emails. One was from someone who actually threatened to kill me.”
As part of her work as a political strategist, Burke maintains a public profile and has recently become worried about her safety.
“People know who I am, I’m on television, I’m on radio, I’m on social media, I don’t hide. But if that’s going to mean that people are gonna feel free to threaten my life. I don’t have to live here,” she said.
Canada’s Antisemitism Explosion
Canada has seen a 124.6 percent increase in antisemitic incidents from 2022 to 2024, according to Jewish human rights organization B’nai Brith Canada. Canada’s Jews make up 0.9 percent of the population but are the victims of 70 percent of religious hate crimes.
There have been weekly anti-Israel protests nationwide since October 7, often featuring praise for Hamas, calls for intifada, and celebrations of Islamist “resistance.”
Some of these rallies have also seen Nazi salutes; chants of “death to Jews,” “explode the head of zionists,” and calls for a “final solution”; protesters dressing up as Hamas militants; the burning in effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with Israeli and Canadian flags; and the flying of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Taliban flags. Meanwhile, an anti-Israel protest against a NATO summit saw demonstrators torch cars and smash the windows of buildings.