App matching Americans escaping Trump with Canadian mates surges in popularity

A Canadian website that matches up Canucks with their American neighbours to the south is surging in popularity now that Donald Trump has become president-elect.

Search activity for the site Maple Match, which is like Tinder but for pairing Canadians and Americans, jumped sharply before Election Day (8 November). Interest is so high in escaping to Canada that the country's immigration website crashed overnight.

"Worried about life under a Trump Presidency?" the dating app's website asks. "The unfathomable horror is coming soon, but we've got your back."

But the app also drew criticism for it's simplistic approach to finding a cross border mate. "It's pretty silly how the FAQ on their site doesn't speak at all to the complications of immigration or the process of obtaining a visa, work permit, permanent residency," said Reddit user kymmiijii. "It's not quite as simple as just finding someone to marry."

Still, the site is seeing a peek in popularity since it made its debut in June. "I hear Toronto is cool! Denver is not that cool anymore, so I'm looking for an out," said Reddit user stranger_flower. "Also an out from a Trump presidency, obviously."

Canada, however, will have to deal with more than just an influx is unhappy Americans following Trump's 2016 election win.

The Republican president-elect has vowed to rip up NAFTA, a 22-year-old trade deal that reduced tariffs on goods and services between the US, Canada, and Mexico. Business groups, like the US Chamber of Commerce, credit the deal with increasing trade between the nations from from $337 billion in 1993 to $1.2 trillion in 2011. The Canadian dollar slid throughout the day against the American dollar following Trump's win (9 November).

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was diplomatic after the Republican made his acceptance speech Wednesday (9 November).

"The relationship between our two countries serves as a model for the world," Trudeau said. "Our shared values, deep cultural ties, and strong integrated economies will continue to provide the basis for advancing our strong and prosperous partnership."

But this was a change of tone from Trudeau's criticism of Trump's controversial campaign after the New York real estate mogul took aim at immigrants last year.

"I stand firmly against the politics of division, the politics of fear, the politics of intolerance or hateful rhetoric," Trudeau said in December 2015 when asked if he would "stand up" to Trump's campaign. "Diversity is a source of strength, not of weakness," Trudeau said.

The dating app isn't the only site seeing a rise in popularity. Canada's immigration website crashed overnight as the votes were counted and it became clear that Trump would win.

"The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship website became temporarily inaccessible to users as a result of a significant increase in the volume of traffic," a spokeswoman told the BBC.

"Shared Services Canada worked through the night and continues to work to resolve the issue to ensure that the website is available for users as soon as possible."