US election: Canada immigration website crashes as Donald Trump wins White House race

Updated

Canada's main immigration website appeared to repeatedly crash today in the lead-up to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump winning the race for the White House.

Users reported seeing an internal server error message when trying to access the website.

"There is a problem with the resource you are looking for, and it cannot be displayed," the message stated.

The website's problems were noted by many on Twitter, with some saying maybe some Americans were serious when they threatened they would move to Canada if Mr Trump became successful in his campaign.

Earlier this year, the island of Cape Breton on Canada's Atlantic coast marketed itself as a tranquil refuge for Americans seeking to escape should Mr Trump capture the White House.

Officials for the Canadian ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.

Rise in New Zealand immigration website visits

Meanwhile, on the eve of the vote, New Zealand immigration officials said the New Zealand Now website, which deals with residency and student visas, had received 1,593 registrations from US citizens since November 1 — more than 50 per cent of a typical month's registrations in just seven days.

Visits to New Zealand Now from the US were up almost 80 per cent to 41,000 in the past month, compared with the same period last year.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told the New York Times in July her late husband Martin D Ginsburg would have been advocating a move to New Zealand if Mr Trump became president.

Reuters

Topics: us-elections, world-politics, government-and-politics, offbeat, united-states, canada

First posted