Elections

Tech Company Warns: Canada’s Immigration Website COULD CRASH If Trump Wins GOP Nomination

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People seeking to flee the United States out of fear that businessman Donald Trump may become president could soon overwhelm Canada’s official immigration website if recent history is any guide.

SOASTA, Inc., a Silicon Valley-based technology company that provides website and web application testing services, is closely monitoring the situation, according to a statement sent to The Daily Caller.

On March 1, the first of this year’s Super Tuesdays (thus far), Canada’s immigration website experienced a severe spike in Internet traffic as reports trickled in that Trump had won 7 of the 11 states which held Republican primaries and caucuses.

The most serious spike in web traffic occurred between the hours of 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. on the evening of Tuesday, March 1. During that two-hour window, Canada’s Immigration and citizenship website recorded over 15,000 visits from U.S.-based Internet providers, reports CTV News, a Toronto-based television network.

The 8 p.m. hour saw the biggest deluge, with 3,191 people based in the United States clicking desperately to investigate a move to Canada.

Over the course of the entire day on March 1, Canada’s official immigration website served up 68,000 webpage sessions.

By way of comparison, on the previous Tuesday, Feb. 23, Canada’s immigration website saw 4,400 visitors between the hours of 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. and 48,000 visitors over the course of the whole day, data obtained by CTV News shows.

The uptick in web traffic was so intense that Canada’s government Internet servers couldn’t handle the load. On Wednesday morning, visitors were still seeing a message cautioning that they “may experience delays,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

“If the Canadian immigration website hasn’t been tested under load and then bolstered it to support traffic spikes, there’s a very good chance that performance will suffer, either in the form of slowdowns or even — depending on how many nervous US citizens are out there — crashes,” SOASTA spokeswoman Tammy Everts told TheDC.

A poll conducted by Vox indicates that more than 25 percent of all Americans would contemplate absconding to the Great White North if Trump becomes president. (RELATED: Vox Is Really, Really White)

The next Republican primary will occur in on April 5 in Wisconsin.

New York holds its GOP primary on April 19.

On April 26, five states — Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island — all hold Republican primaries. (RELATED: 8 Celebrities Who Promise To Leave The Country If Trump Is Elected)

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