Grace Hern, 36, moved to Canada in 2023, pursues graduate school and flees American politics. She hopes that her friends and family will pave the way for Canada to try.
This essay is based on a conversation with Grace Hell, a 36-year-old office assistant who moved from Milwaukee to the Greater Toronto area with her husband in September 2023. The conversation was edited with length and clarity.
When people asked me, I had to answer, “Why did you move?” and “I’m afraid of what my country would do.”
Wisconsin is really progressive now, but it’s in a purple state. So what I felt was, “What if someone took over and started breaking the law? What if someone kicked out someone I wanted to take power and then the laws changed all the way?”
The final straw is Roev. It was when Wade capsized. We thought: Let’s move to a country where you can get health care for most of it, as well as the whole body.
When I told my friends they were moving to Canada, they said, “Maybe we should think about it too.” I was a little surprised. I thought it was an extreme decision, it was a bit crazy, but everyone I spoke to was, “Yeah, I wonder if it’s viable for me.”
I will continue to encourage people to organize their passports and visit them. If they need it, I want to be a stepping stone.
I thought a student visa was my best bet to enter Canada
My husband and I were very fortunate that we saved enough money to move. We were very fortunate that our work did not link us to Milwaukee. We were so lucky that we had never bought a house in Milwaukee, so we weren’t really tied to it, financially or legally, as some of my friends and family do.
Now I’m in the Toronto area between Toronto and Stratford. In traffic, it will take about 2-3 hours outside of Toronto.
Everyone says I moved “North-facing”, but in fact I moved east across the lake. When we talk to our parents they say it’s snowing and it snows two days later.
I went to a graduate program for just one year. We thought about whether it would make our visa faster, it would make it a little easier. I also wanted to earn money as a teaching assistant. Then my husband got a work visa. Immediately after graduation, I had to apply for a post-graduation work visa.
My partner and I got married to make our visa easier. I have been with my partner for nearly 13 years and we never signed a paper. When we wanted to move around the country, we thought, “It would be better to make this legally formal and make it easier to pass through the border.”
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Houses are expensive everywhere and difficult to find
Work and housing are rare.
There are many housing scams. We met our landlord in one of two apartments we actually saw with our eyes. We said, “I think I had to go with these two that I actually saw because I know this isn’t a scam.”
The only reason our home is safe now is because we made friends like “My aunt owns a house. You can live in the basement and I can live on the first floor.” I’ve been lucky. There is no air conditioning, but it’s fine as it’s underground. It’s a little smaller and more expensive than my place in Milwaukee.
The last apartment in Milwaukee cost $1,200 a month for a actually spacious two bedroom with a living room, dining area, full kitchen, a small backyard and parking space.
Now I’m spending $1,800 Canadian dollars (or about $1,258).
Canada’s first very small apartment was Canadian dollars (or about $1,422) a month. It was listed as a two bedroom, but it wasn’t.
I don’t know exactly where I’m standing with the Canadians right now.
The Canadians I know now look at their phones, read the news about tariffs and ask, “Oh, have you ever heard how crazy this is?” “Oh, no, what happened now?” And they seem to be “I can’t buy orange juice.”
Due to customs duties, if it is made in Canada, I’m going to put a little red maple leaves on everything.
Everyone is becoming quite nationalist, at least in terms of economic choice. People put flags on the grass and cars in front of them, and they all buy Canadians.
Unfolding the flag already makes me feel uneasy. Because when all the American flags came out in 2016, it tended to be something very white nationalist.
My big question is, when you spread the flag of Canada, does it include all international students? Do you include Indian grocery stores on the street? Is all immigrants included? There’s a sense that the flag owner would say, “Yeah, of course.”
In February 2025, Canada announced a series of border security efforts to stem the US’s enacted tariffs. Artur widak/Nurphoto via Getty Images
I know that the Canadian flag is not an American flag, and the American flag on your truck is different from the Canadian flag on your truck. However, there are similarities.
I just want to know for sure that people flying Canadian flags want to include everyone who actually lives in their country and want to make them a little nervous because it’s not actually going to fly a flag at home.
There is also a social element in which Canadians are more polite and Americans are more friendly. It’s really strange to understand where you stand with Canadians, especially now. They are always trying to tell you politely.
I didn’t feel any change in how people treated me personally. I still have a Wisconsin license plate in my car, but people were asking me, “Are you worried about being destroyed?” I said, “No, should I do that?”
