A growing number of Americans are searching for properties in Canada as they consider seeking refuge north of the border, CTV National News is reporting Wednesday.
A new report from the Canadian real estate company Royal LePage says U.S.-originated sessions on the company's website have spiked throughout the first half of 2026, with traffic surging during periods of economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
The company says the first major spike to its website from U.S.-based users happened between Jan. 11 and 17, days after 37-year-old Renee Good was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis, Minn.
During that period, Royal Lepage says traffic to its website rose 78% week-over-week, and 65% year-over-year.
A second spike, which set new records, occurred between April 5 and 11 following heightened geopolitical tensions surrounding the war in Iran.
U.S.-originated traffic to royallepage.ca surged 125% week-over-week, an increase of 233% compared to the same period in 2025.
Additional spikes by U.S. based visitors were seen April 26 to May 2 and May 10 to 16.
While the company admits it has no way of knowing whether any of the U.S. visitors to its website ended up moving to Canada, Royal LePage's president says similar patterns were seen during the lead up to the 2024 U.S. presidential election and in its aftermath.
(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally, and/or from other media sources. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)