Story highlights
Canadian immigration website crashes on US election night
Suspected uptick in citizenship inquiries comes with strong Donald Trump showing
(CNN) —
It seems it’s not only celebs who are making plans to flee a Donald Trump presidency.
As Trump surged ahead in Tuesday night’s election, Canada’s immigration website crashed, posting a “500 - Internal server error” message.
Lisa Filipps, spokeswoman for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, said that the website had become “temporarily inaccessible to users as a result of a significant increase in the volume of traffic.”
Teams were working to resolve the issue, she said, and by Wednesday morning the site appeared to be up and running again – albeit very slow to load.
There’s no guarantee the two things were related, but given the loud insistence of many Americans, every election cycle, to move north in the event of an unfavorable outcome, it’s not a huge leap to assume that some despondent voters were exploring options.
Many were tempted to file this under “you couldn’t make it up.” Actor and comedian Ben Schwartz couldn’t believe he’d been beaten to the punch, tweeting:
“I was gonna write this as a joke but found out it was real. “The Canada Citizenship and Immigration site crashed around 8 PM” #electionnight,” he wrote.
Another user couldn’t see the funny side of it.
“Canada’s Citizenship & Immigration site just crashed. This isn’t a joke. #ElectionNight,” Scott Warner tweeted.
Others pointed to the website’s crashing as part of a wider theme of signs a Trump victory was inevitable.
“Where we stand right now: DOW futures are down 750. The dollar is plummeting. And Canada’s immigration website just crashed,” Nick Bilton wrote.
We’re not sure where Trump supporters planned to go if Clinton had won. But one fan tweeted – in all-caps – “I’M MOVING TO RUSSIA IF TRUMP LOSES.”
As election night wore on, results seemed to show that the odds she would have to learn Russian were decreasing.
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President-elect Donald Trump delivers his acceptance speech at his election night event in New York City on Wednesday, November 9. "Every single American will have the opportunity to realize his or her fullest potential," the Republican said. "The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer."
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Trump, on stage with his family, acknowledges the crowd at the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel. He was gracious toward his opponent, Hillary Clinton, and called for unity. "We owe (Clinton) a very major debt of gratitude to her for her service to our country," Trump said. "I say it is time for us to come together as one united people."
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Trump supporters cheer election returns in New York.
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A person sits at the Javits Center, the site of Clinton's election night event in New York.
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Danny Ghitis for CNN
Trump's victory is projected onto the Empire State Building in New York.
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Clinton supporters react to results at the Javits Center.
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Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, takes the stage to speak at the Javits Center. He told the crowd that Clinton would not be speaking. At the time, Clinton was behind in the Electoral College with several states still too close to call. She later conceded in a phone call to Trump.
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A woman attends a watch party at the rooftop bar 230 Fifth in New York.
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Trump supporters cheer during his election night event in New York.
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A man reacts as he watches voting results at the Javits Center.
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Republicans in Newport Beach, California, erupt in celebration as Trump's victory in Florida is announced.
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Clinton supporters react to election results at the Javits Center.
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Marta Lunez prays at the Javits Center.
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A Trump supporter in New York reacts as Ohio is called for Trump.
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Clinton supporters watch the voting results at the Javits Center.
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Trump supporters cheer during his election night event in New York.
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Dustin Chambers for CNN
People watch election results from Manuel's Tavern in Atlanta.
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FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images
An emotional Gerardo Ruiz watches the election results from Clinton's headquarters in east Los Angeles.
