Canada immigration website crashes as Trump secures victory

Canada's immigration website crashed in the early hours of Wednesday morning - just as the election result starting swinging in Donald Trump's favour.

The Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) went down at the same time as searches for "move to Canada" and "immigrate to Canada" spiked on Google Trends as the election returns tipped towards Mr Trump.

Some communities in Canada marketed themselves as the perfect escape from Trump. Credit: PA

New Zealand immigration services also reported increased traffic to its website for residency visas from US nationals in the hours before Mr Trump surged to victory.

In the run up to the elections, some Americans had said they would move to Canada if Mr Trump was elected. The running joke was taken up by some Canadian communities who began marketing themselves as the perfect escape.

In February, the island of Cape Breton on Canada's Atlantic coast advertised itself as a tranquil refuge for Americans seeking to escape from a Trump-led United States.