Trump presidency may drive Americans into Canadian real estate: Royal LePage CEO

Nov 8, 2016

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Royal LePage Chief Executive Officer Phil Soper thinks some Americans will make good on their vows to move to Canada if Donald Trump is elected President. In an interview on BNN, Soper said a recession triggered by Trump’s social and economic policies could convince disenfranchised Americans to head north.

“Deporting eleven million workers and starting a trade war with China would place this tentative recovery in reverse,” he said on Tuesday. “If there was social unrest, you could see a material change in the desirability to leave: we’re next door.”

Soper said Americans with aspirations of moving to Canada in the event Trump takes the Oval Office will likely take a cautious approach, testing out the social fit in a new country by buying a secondary property.

“Where we might see a material change is, call it the ‘toe in the water’: you buy a cottage in Ontario or Alberta or British Columbia and you test something out,” he said.

Ultimately, Soper said demand may increase somewhat, but he doesn’t expect Americans to flock to Canada in droves.

“I think it could be material, but I’m not expecting a lineup at the border.”

 

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