The Day after what we have been dreading, happened

OR…

National Longtime Trauma

Well, it has happened. Our neighbours to the south have elected Donald Trump resoundingly. Canada, and the rest of the world, have been holding their collective breaths in anticipation of November 5th, 2024. In Canada, we will be impacted… there is no doubt. We have a close and sometimes intertwined relationship to our biggest trading partners and business compadres. We have the longest international border between two countries anywhere in the world. When they raise the Federal rate in the U.S., the Bank of Canada usually follows. We are both democracies. We play nice with each other. We are siblings that are separate but from the same family. We think differently about some things but there is a lot that binds us together. 

Canadians have been holding their breath. On November 6th, we woke up to the news that a lot of us had been fearing. The United States had chosen to elect a convicted felon to run the country for the next four years. I won’t lie. I spent a lot of the day in tears yesterday. What has been taken from women in the western world with that decision, although, only given by Trump to the Christian nationalists to solidify his re-election, is defeatingly sad.

An enormous amount of American women chose to let men make decisions about their bodies. Men chose this too, but a lot of women chose this. I know this has more to do with a worldwide pivot towards nationalism for so many reasons. I think it is tied to a Christian fundamentalism that Donald Trump appeased but had no care for. I think it was as much a reaction to far left leaning outrage as it was to people being held responsible for their forefathers’ sins. Any which way this American election will affect the world and world economies and it will affect Canada. 

Google searches, “Move To Canada”, skyrocketed in the U.S. after Trump was chosen to once again live at The White House. Peak popularity of the search came at 6:00am on Wednesday, November 6th. Other related queries on Google were: 

• Cost to move to Canada from U.S.
• Can I move to Canada if Trump wins
• How to move to Ireland from U.S.
• Easiest country to move to from U.S.A.
• Jobs in Canada for Americans

Canada will be receiving some Americans this coming year, there is no doubt. The question is, how will that affect us here?
The government put in place a moratorium on foreign home ownership in Canada that was set to expire January 1st, 2024. This was to keep home prices low enough so that Canadians could afford home ownership themselves. They extended that moratorium until January 1st, 2027. There are a lot of Americans that have Canadian citizenship and are considering a move back here after the election. Healthcare costs, gun violence, women’s and transgender rights all play a part in those decisions for people. What will this mean for us?

Interest rates are falling in Canada. We went down .50% a basis point in November and mortgage lenders are anticipating a .25% to .50% basis point drop in December followed by more in the first quarter of next year. This and the stale market that came when we were waiting for interest rates to fall, have contributed to what we are expecting to be a very robust spring market…. spring starting in February or even January 2025. If we see numbers of Americans also coming to play in the spring market, it will be wild. Remember, buyers must have Canadian citizenship or permanent residency to qualify to buy this coming year. 

I am not sure of anything. I can’t promise you what price we will sell your house for or how much we will have to spend to get you what we want. I can make an educated guess today that Toronto will have a robust housing market at the beginning of 2025. I can promise you I have stopped crying about the election that I didn’t like the result of and I will work as hard as I can in every way to make sure that this type of divisive politics and degrading of women’s choices does not make it’s way into the politics of our nation.

I appreciate every woman of our country that stands up for the freedom to make choices about our own bodies… And every man for respecting that right for their wives or mothers or daughters. Some things are more important than money… But if you want to see why big decisions are made in government, follow the money. 

With our eyes open, let’s walk towards the next year. With our hearts and minds open, let’s make sure Canada is a beacon of light and inclusiveness and equality. Lucinda Williams wrote a song called Crazy Mary that Pearl Jam covered… These lyrics stick with me today.

“That what you fear the most could meet you halfway. Take a bottle drink it down, pass it around.”

Let’s take a drink from the bottle of kindness and inclusivity and pass it around. It’s not weakness it’s our strength and it binds us.