A Yahoo news item says that in the days after the election, the Canadian immigration website jumped to an all-time traffic high. Not surprising. What I was not aware of, though, is that Canada is actually actively seeking immigration.

Canada is one of the few major nations with an large-scale immigration policy. Ottawa is seeking to attract between 220,000 and 240,000 newcomers next year.

“Let’s face it, we have a population of a little over 32 million and we definitely need permanent residents to come to Canada,” said Iadinardi. “If we could meet (the 2005) target and go above it, the more the merrier.”

I’d always heard they were super-strict before this. Well, they may still be (knowing them) but at least they’re looking for it. This article also says though that the process of getting permanent resident status can take up to a year or more - unless you can get a job first and secure a work visa. Or there’s also SF Gate columnist Mark Morford’s admonition to stay here and “raise the collective karma“… yeah… Personally, I still think Canada 2.0 is the best option I’ve seen so far.