Over the last year, largely due to the worsening climate for trans people in the United States, JQT Vancouver has received a small number of inquiries from American queer and trans Jews who are planning to leave the United States, some of them hoping to move to Canada. Identifying this as a potentially emerging need, we undertook a fact-finding mission to learn what we might be able to do to support people in this position. What follows is a summary of what we learned. 

We must stress, for legal reasons, that our intent is not to encourage anyone to move from the United States to Canada. We intend rather to provide some sobering but hopefully helpful information that can be shared with anyone who may already be considering a move.

Our exploration began with the Move to Thrive program developed by Keshet, an American queer Jewish 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and the Hebrew Free Loan Society of New York (HFLS-NY). The Move to Thrive program provides queer Americans, not necessarily Jewish, with interest-free loans in order to move from less safe states for trans people to safer ones, but not to leave the United States. 

We reached out to Keshet, who connected us with HFLS-NY, who then contacted several local Hebrew Free Loan Associations in Canada (including HFLA Vancouver, HFLA Montreal, and JFL Toronto), to see if it might be possible to develop a cross-border equivalent or at least a Canadian version. Of the two that responded to us, the general message we received is that prospects are limited because most of the Canadian Free Loan agencies have strict citizenship and/or residency requirements for both borrowers and guarantors. Please reach out to these above three organizations directly to determine if you are eligible for their loans. 

We also connected with Rainbow Refugee, a Canadian charitable organization whose mission is “to promote safe equitable migration and communities of belonging for people fleeing Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression and HIV+ persecution.” They explained to us that, above all, refugee status is one of the most vulnerable situations in which a person can find themself, and that for someone hoping to move to Canada, it is always a better option to come to Canada on a visa and then pursue other routes to staying, when possible. We received the same message from more than one attorney whom we consulted for information (not for legal advice). In addition, Rainbow Refugee only provides services for people who have arrived in Canada—they do not provide assistance or information for cross-border moves.

Our contacts at Rainbow Refugee also explained to us that in 2024 there were several dozen attempts by trans Americans to make refugee claims in Canada, none of which were successful. A separate but related issue is the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement, which stipulates that people who are not citizens of Canada or of the United States and who want to seek asylum or refugee status in one of these two countries must do so in the first country in which they arrive. That is, if someone who is not a Canadian or American citizen or permanent resident arrives in the United States, then enters Canada and applies for asylum or makes a refugee claim here, their claim will be denied. There are ongoing legal developments in this area, but no one should rely on these policies changing substantially anytime soon.

We are grateful to HFLS-NY, Keshet, Rainbow Refugee, and everyone else who took the time to help us explore our options for supporting queer and trans people, Jewish and non-Jewish, who may be considering a move to Canada. We hope that this information is helpful. Our email inbox is open to any queer or trans Jews who have questions—we will do our best to connect you with the right people. 

May queer and trans Jews be protected, from harsh laws and from people who pursue us, in every place where the sun sets and rises on us, and may all of our comings and goings be on paths of peace.

JQT Vancouver
September 25, 2025