(CNN) It seems it's not only celebs who are making plans to flee a Donald Trump presidency .

As Trump surged ahead in Tuesday night's election, Canada's immigration website crashed, posting a "500 - Internal server error" message.

The Canadian Immigration website has crashed. Seriously. #ElectionNight pic.twitter.com/XXSfCorTd1

Lisa Filipps, spokeswoman for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, said that the website had become "temporarily inaccessible to users as a result of a significant increase in the volume of traffic."

Teams were working to resolve the issue, she said, and by Wednesday morning the site appeared to be up and running again -- albeit very slow to load.

There's no guarantee the two things were related, but given the loud insistence of many Americans, every election cycle, to move north in the event of an unfavorable outcome, it's not a huge leap to assume that some despondent voters were exploring options.

Twitter reacts

Many were tempted to file this under "you couldn't make it up." Actor and comedian Ben Schwartz couldn't believe he'd been beaten to the punch, tweeting:

"I was gonna write this as a joke but found out it was real. "The Canada Citizenship and Immigration site crashed around 8 PM" #electionnight," he wrote.

I was gonna write this as a joke but found out it was real. "The Canada Citizenship and Immigration site crashed around 8 PM" #electionnight — Ben Schwartz (@rejectedjokes) November 9, 2016

Another user couldn't see the funny side of it.

"Canada's Citizenship & Immigration site just crashed. This isn't a joke. #ElectionNight," Scott Warner tweeted.

Canada's Citizenship & Immigration site just crashed. This isn't a joke. #ElectionNight — SCOTT WARNER (@ScottWarner18) November 9, 2016

Others pointed to the website's crashing as part of a wider theme of signs a Trump victory was inevitable.

"Where we stand right now: DOW futures are down 750. The dollar is plummeting. And Canada's immigration website just crashed," Nick Bilton wrote.

Where we stand right now: DOW futures are down 750. The dollar is plummeting. And Canada's immigration website just crashed. — Nick Bilton (@nickbilton) November 9, 2016

We're not sure where Trump supporters planned to go if Clinton had won. But one fan tweeted -- in all-caps -- "I'M MOVING TO RUSSIA IF TRUMP LOSES."

I'M MOVING TO RUSSIA IF TRUMP LOSES — MADAME (@MagicRoyalty) August 23, 2016

As election night wore on, results seemed to show that the odds she would have to learn Russian were decreasing.

Photos: Election Day in America President-elect Donald Trump delivers his acceptance speech at his election night event in New York City on Wednesday, November 9. "Every single American will have the opportunity to realize his or her fullest potential," the Republican said. "The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer." Hide Caption 1 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Trump, on stage with his family, acknowledges the crowd at the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel. He was gracious toward his opponent, Hillary Clinton, and called for unity. "We owe (Clinton) a very major debt of gratitude to her for her service to our country," Trump said. "I say it is time for us to come together as one united people." Hide Caption 2 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Trump supporters cheer election returns in New York. Hide Caption 3 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America A person sits at the Javits Center, the site of Clinton's election night event in New York. Hide Caption 4 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Trump's victory is projected onto the Empire State Building in New York. Hide Caption 5 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Clinton supporters react to results at the Javits Center. Hide Caption 6 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, takes the stage to speak at the Javits Center. He told the crowd that Clinton would not be speaking. At the time, Clinton was behind in the Electoral College with several states still too close to call. She later conceded in a phone call to Trump. Hide Caption 7 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America A woman attends a watch party at the rooftop bar 230 Fifth in New York. Hide Caption 8 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Trump supporters cheer during his election night event in New York. Hide Caption 9 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America A man reacts as he watches voting results at the Javits Center. Hide Caption 10 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Republicans in Newport Beach, California, erupt in celebration as Trump's victory in Florida is announced. Hide Caption 11 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Clinton supporters react to election results at the Javits Center. Hide Caption 12 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Marta Lunez prays at the Javits Center. Hide Caption 13 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America A Trump supporter in New York reacts as Ohio is called for Trump. Hide Caption 14 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Clinton supporters watch the voting results at the Javits Center. Hide Caption 15 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Trump supporters cheer during his election night event in New York. Hide Caption 16 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America People watch election results from Manuel's Tavern in Atlanta. Hide Caption 17 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America An emotional Gerardo Ruiz watches the election results from Clinton's headquarters in east Los Angeles. Hide Caption 18 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Trump supporters cheer during his election night event in New York. Hide Caption 19 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Clinton supporters watch results from the Javits Center. Hide Caption 20 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Claire Shea, dressed as Clinton, cheers during an election night party at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Wellesley College is Clinton's alma mater. Hide Caption 21 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America People watch voting results at the Javits Center in New York. Hide Caption 22 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Buttons decorate a Clinton supporter at the Javits Center. Hide Caption 23 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Diane LaRaia watches election results at a party for Trump supporters in Braintree, Massachusetts. Hide Caption 24 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America An American flag hangs above the media at the Javits Center. Hide Caption 25 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Boxes containing mail-in ballots sit waiting to be sorted at the San Francisco City Hall polling location. Hide Caption 26 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Kathleen Lundy eyes her ballot in Salt Lake City. Hide Caption 27 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America A man in Philadelphia hangs a sign reminding people to vote. Hide Caption 28 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America A man snaps a selfie with his child as he waits to vote in Brooklyn, New York. Hide Caption 29 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Harvey Erwin, a 94-year-old World War II veteran, votes with his 3-year old great-granddaughter in Joplin, Missouri. Fellow voters applauded Erwin as he walked to the front of the voting line. "People turned and started clapping all the way to the front of line and saying 'Thank you for your service,' " his daughter, Janine Erwin Johnson, told CNN. "It made tears stream down my face because of the recognition to my sweet dad." Hide Caption 30 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America A man votes in the bakery department of an Austin, Texas, grocery store. Hide Caption 31 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America "I voted" stickers are placed at the gravesite of Susan B. Anthony in Rochester, New York. Anthony, a social reformer who died in 1906, played a major role in the women's suffrage movement. Hide Caption 32 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, greet supporters after voting in Chappaqua, New York. Hide Caption 33 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump looks at his wife, Melania, as they cast their votes in New York. Hide Caption 34 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Voters cast their ballots at a Chicago laundromat on November 8. Hide Caption 35 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Penn State students stand in line inside the Student Union, called The Hub, waiting to cast their ballots in State College, Pennsylvania. Hide Caption 36 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America John and Colleen Kramer vote at the Caplinger Mills Trading Post in Caplinger Mills, Missouri. Hide Caption 37 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Voters fill out ballots at the Mount Vernon Center in Alexandria, Virginia. Hide Caption 38 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America A hand-painted message appears on a billboard in Columbiana County, Ohio. Hide Caption 39 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America People cast their votes at the Echo Park Pool in Los Angeles. Hide Caption 40 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America A legal observer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada stands at the entrance of a polling location in North Las Vegas. Hide Caption 41 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America A tourist takes her "misfortune" slip from The All-Seeing Trump, a machine set up across the street from the New York Hilton Midtown Manhattan Hotel. Hide Caption 42 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Trump's running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, votes in Indianapolis. Hide Caption 43 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Clinton's running mate, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, votes with his wife, Anne Holton, in Richmond, Virginia. Hide Caption 44 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Denise Richardson votes at the Chua Phat To Gotama Temple in Long Beach, California. Hide Caption 45 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America U.S. Sen. John McCain and his wife, Cindy, arrive at a polling place to cast their votes in Phoenix. Hide Caption 46 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America People line up to cast their ballots at an elementary school in Chesterfield, Virginia. Hide Caption 47 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Democratic polling judge John Ramirez is reflected in a mirror as he helps a voter at a beauty salon in Chicago. Hide Caption 48 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America With sitar players performing next to him, Efrem Harkham meditates after voting at the Luxe Hotel polling station in Los Angeles. Hide Caption 49 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Voters cast their ballots in a polling location inside Mike's TV and Appliance November 8, 2016 in State College, Pennsylvania. Hide Caption 50 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America A woman reads over a ballot while waiting to vote in Brooklyn. Hide Caption 51 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America A voter drops his ballot into a voting box in Sutherlin, Oregon. Hide Caption 52 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America People vote at the Los Angeles Lifeguard station in Venice Beach, California. Hide Caption 53 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Trump's son Eric signs in to vote at the 53rd Street Library in New York. Hide Caption 54 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America A voter casts a ballot inside the Halloran Skating Rink in Cleveland. Hide Caption 55 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America A line stretches down the street in New York as voters wait for a polling site to open. Hide Caption 56 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Voters look at a sample ballot at a polling location in Independence, Missouri. Hide Caption 57 of 58 Photos: Election Day in America Voters in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, cast their ballots shortly after midnight. The small town south of the Canadian border continued its tradition of voting early, with Clinton winning four votes to Trump's two. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson picked up one vote, while Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee, received a surprise write-in vote. Hide Caption 58 of 58

Looking northward

Jittery Democrats -- and maybe some Republicans -- have eyed the northern border throughout the election cycle.

In August, CNN reported on a radio DJ who created a website called Cape Breton if Donald Trump Wins , welcoming Americans to the sleepy Maritime island in Nova Scotia.

JUST WATCHED Serene Canadian island courts 'Trump refugees' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Serene Canadian island courts 'Trump refugees' 04:16

As the story spread on CNN and other international networks, American interest grew.

The phenomenon goes right back to the primaries. Searches for "how can I move to Canada" spiked 350% as Trump swept Super Tuesday in March, according to Simon Rogers, a data editor at Google, at the time.

Searches for "how can I move to Canada" on Google have spiked +350% in the past four hours #SuperTuesday — Simon Rogers (@smfrogers) March 2, 2016

Celebrities including Bryan Cranston, Amy Schumer, Cher and Barbra Streisand have all declared their plans to flee under a Trump presidency.

Indeed, the famed Canadian niceness would certainly provide a welcome respite to the relentless nastiness of the 2016 presidential election.

As the Cape Breton website assures would-be American refugees: "The truth is, we welcome all, no matter who you support, be it Democrat, Republican or Donald Trump."

The same thing happened when George W. Bush won his second term in 2004. But there's little evidence that many Americans followed through with their threat.

That few actually migrate north is probably at least in part because it's not easy to make the move.

It is possible though. A job offer, a winning ticket in a citizenship lottery or hyper-wealth helps.

But for most, the first step is logging on to a functional Canadian immigration website.

Good luck getting through.</s>The Canadian immigration and citizenship website went down for hours Tuesday and Wednesday as chances of a Donald Trump presidency became a reality during U.S. Election Day.

A spike in searches by people looking to leave the United States for Canada resulted in the website for ‘Citizenship and Immigration Canada’ being taken off-line on Election Day.

Search traffic for “Canada immigration,” “Canada” and “move to Canada” has increased in the United States relative to the past seven days, according to Google Trends. Google reports that the search terms were particularly popular in Oregon, Washington, Vermont and California.

Meanwhile, Business Insider reported that a story called “How to move to Canada and become a Canadian citizen” was the top story on the site Tuesday night.

The Wayback Machine has an archive of the currently inaccessible site, if you’re curious, including the page with information on “how you can immigrate to Canada.“

Will anyone actually do it?

NPR’s Danielle Kurtzleben took a long look at that question earlier this year.

“Every election, there’s that chorus of people who insist they are moving to Canada if candidate so-and-so wins. Everyone knows these people. They’re tweeting and Googling about it as you read this,” she wrote. (Which is undoubtedly true right now.)

Determining how many people actually follow through is surprisingly difficult, Danielle found. The short answer is: a few, but probably for reasons more complicated than pure politics.</s>Google search traffic to the Canada story began to surge.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS - The Government of Canada's immigration website crashed on Tuesday night as the US election results were rolling in.The site went down about 22:30, and there was intermittent accessibility after that.About 21:00 ET on Tuesday evening, CNN announced that a number of key states in the election — including Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, and Florida — could all swing in Republican nominee Donald Trump's favor. (Virginia has since been won by Clinton and Florida by Trump.)The top story on Business Insider has been " How to move to Canada and become a Canadian citizen.</s>Canada's main immigration website appeared to suffer repeated outages on Tuesday night as Trump took the lead in several major states and his prospects for winning the U.S. presidency turned markedly higher. Some users in the United States, Canada and Asia saw an internal serve error message when trying to access the www.cic.gc.ca/website.

Officials for the ministry could not immediately be reached for comment, but the website's problems were noted by many on Twitter.

After some Americans, often jokingly, said would move to Canada if Trump was elected, the idea has been taken up by some Canadian communities. In February, the island of Cape Breton on Canada's Atlantic coast marketed itself as a tranquil refuge for Americans seeking to escape should Trump capture the White House.</s>Americans have often vowed to leave the country if their chosen candidate doesn't win the election, but this time around some are actually preparing to do so after Trump stunningly won the Nov. 8 election.

A spokeswoman for Canada's immigration department said the website crashed "as a result of a significant increase in the volume of traffic" as election results rolled in Tuesday night.

Bonnie Quinn, a New Jersey insurance underwriter planning to move to Canada with her husband said she felt "just downright embarrassed" by the election results.

"I'm not sure in what order we should do things - find jobs first or move," said Quinn, 35, whose Irish grandparents once immigrated to Canada.

In New Zealand, immigration officials said the New Zealand Now website, which deals with residency and student visas, had received 1,593 registrations from United States citizens since Nov. 1 - more than 50 percent of a typical month's registrations in just seven days.

Rod Drury, the chief executive of NZ-based global accounting software firm Xero, said the statistics matched up with interest his company has been seeing from prospective U.S. national employees concerned about a Trump win.

Drury said what started as a joke was becoming a reality.

"I've got lots of messages coming through at the moment asking for a job in New Zealand, and we're saying 'Yes you can'," Drury told Reuters by telephone on Wednesday.

In the hours after Trump's victory, Americans were searching for jobs in Canada at 10 times the rate of previous nights, said Jed Kolko, chief economist for job website Indeed.

"It's far too soon to guess how many of these searchers will make a move after the shock wears off. But the jump in searches shows how many Americans were surprised by Trump's victory and are thinking about their options elsewhere," Kolko said in an emailed statement.

In Atlanta, business coach Nancy Chorpenning, 62, said she and her husband are looking to move to Costa Rica sooner than their planned retirement because of the Trump victory.

"I am simply terrified the new administration and Congress may destroy the Social Security we count on when my husband retires," said Chorpenning, who is traveling to Costa Rica next week to scout for condos.

After some Americans, often jokingly, said they would move to Canada if Trump was elected, the idea was taken up by some Canadian communities.

In February, the island of Cape Breton on Canada's Atlantic coast marketed itself as a tranquil refuge for Americans seeking to escape should Trump capture the White House.

On Maple Match, a recently-launched dating website aimed to match Americans fleeing Trump with Canadians, users have more than doubled to about 14,000 overnight, according to chief executive Joe Goldman.

While the pledge to "move to Canada" has been made in elections past, it has rarely played out, although thousands of Americans who opposed the Vietnam War moved to Canada.

Migration data from after Republican George W. Bush's 2000 election and 2004 re-election - other moments when liberal Americans pledged to move to Canada in protest - suggest few followed through on their promises.

While immigration to Canada increased during the years of Bush's elections, the rise was not more than increases in other years, data from the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies show.</s>Well, that didn’t take long.

As Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s fortunes dipped and dived throughout election night, it appears that some Americans were ready to vote with their feet.

For months since Donald Trump captured the Republican nomination, many Americans vowed that if the reality TV star captured the White House, they’d leave the U.S.

Celebrities were at the front of the line, with stars such as Lena Dunham, Amy Schumer, Miley Cyrus and Bryan Cranston claiming they’d move to Canada.

And now that sentiment appears to have spread as the Canadian Immigration and Citizenship website kept crashing throughout the night.

Apparently, it was because of the sheer volume of visitors looking to flee the Land of the Free.

Peter Anthony Holder tweeted: “Well this is ominous. If you try to go to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website, this is what you get . . . #WelcomeToCanada”

MTBO added: “The website for immigration canada just crashed cause people wanna leave the USA. This is sad.”

Meanwhile, Cheapflights.com told the Huffington Post searches in the U.S. for one-way flights to Canada doubled on election day.

"The data so far shows that Canada looks to be the favourite potential safe haven for nervous results watchers," the company said in an email.</s>Maybe some Americans were serious when they threatened they would move to Canada if Republican presidential candidate became successful in his often polarizing campaign for the White House.

Canada’s main immigration website appeared to suffer repeated outages on Tuesday night as Trump took the lead in several major states and his prospects for winning the U.S. presidency turned markedly higher.

America votes: Coverage of the 2016 U.S. election night

Some users in the United States, Canada and Asia saw an internal serve error message when trying to access the http://www.cic.gc.ca/ website.

Officials for the ministry could not immediately be reached for comment, but the website’s problems were noted by many on Twitter.

After some Americans, often jokingly, said would move to Canada if Trump was elected, the idea has been taken up by some Canadian communities. In February, the island of Cape Breton on Canada’s Atlantic coast marketed itself as a tranquil refuge for Americans seeking to escape should Trump capture the White House.</s>Canada and the prospect of Americans moving there appears to have drawn so much online interest that it knocked out the country’s immigration website.

Internet searches for “move to Canada” and “immigrate to Canada” spiked Tuesday night as election returns favored Republican President-elect Donald Trump. “Canada” was a leading U.S. trend on Twitter, with more than 1 million tweets.

While much of the chatter was clearly tongue-in-cheek, the website for Citizenship and Immigration Canada was down at the time. Agency officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The site appeared to be working sporadically by Wednesday morning.</s>Today, half the country is celebrating, while the other lives in real fear of what the next four years holds.It seems the latter half might be — or at least attempting to — carry out their promise to move to Canada if the Republican nominee were to win.Last night, Canada's immigration site crashed after being swarmed by visitors seeking immigration information. The site's up now , and people can find information, whether they're serious about their inquiry or not. You'll have to apply for permanent residency, and while there are different types of citizenship, most insist that people come for work or live there with their family.Perhaps equally as important, was Canada's epic Twitter clapback to the news of Trump's win.</s>(CNN) It seems it's not only celebs who are making plans to flee a Trump presidency .

As Election Night in the US wore on, with Trump posting big gains in key battleground states, Canada's immigration website crashed for some people, posting a "500 - Internal server error" message.

The Canadian Immigration website has crashed. Seriously. #ElectionNight pic.twitter.com/XXSfCorTd1

There's no guarantee the two things are related, but given the loud insistence of many Americans, every election cycle, to move north in the event of an unfavorable election outcome, it's not a huge leap to assume that many despondent voters are exploring options.

At the time of writing, the Citizenship and Immigration Canada Twitter page had not acknowledged the outage.

Many were tempted to file this under "you couldn't make it up." Actor and comedian Ben Schwartz couldn't believe he'd been beaten to the punch, tweeting:

"I was gonna write this as a joke but found out it was real. "The Canada Citizenship and Immigration site crashed around 8 PM" #electionnight," he wrote.

Another user couldn't see the funny side of it.

Others pointed to the website's crashing as part of a wider theme of signs that Trump's victory was inevitable.

"Where we stand right now: DOW futures are down 750. The dollar is plummeting. And Canada's immigration website just crashed," he wrote.

We're not sure where Trump supporters plan to flee if Clinton wins. But one fan tweeted -- in all-caps -- "I'M MOVING TO RUSSIA IF TRUMP LOSES."

As Election Night wore on, results seemed to show that the odds that she would have to learn Russian were decreasing.

Jittery Democrats -- and maybe some Republicans -- have been eying the northern border throughout the election cycle.

In August, CNN reported on a radio DJ who created a website, called "Cape Breton if Donald Trump Wins," welcoming Americans to the sleepy Maritime island of Cape Breton.

As the story spread on CNN and other international networks, American interest grew.

Celebrities including Bryan Cranston, Amy Schumer, Cher and Barbra Streisand have all declared their plans to flee if -- or when -- Trump ascends to the presidency.

Indeed, the famed Canadian niceness would certainly provide a welcome respite to the relentless nastiness of the 2016 Presidential election.

As the Cape Breton website assures would-be American refugees: "The truth is, we welcome all, no matter who you support, be it Democrat, Republican or Donald Trump."

The same thing happened when George W. Bush won his second term in 2012. But there's little evidence that many Americans actually followed through.

That few follow through on their declared interest in migrating north is probably at least in part because it's not easy to make the move.

It is possible, though. A job offer, a winning ticket in a citizenship lottery or hyper-wealth helps.

But for most, the first step is logging on to a functional Canadian immigration website.
The immigration website of Canada crashes due to overflow, coinciding with the election in the United States.