Quote:
Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin
I don't know about that - there are fewer Canadian emigrants leaving for the States than in the past, but it's pretty common for anyone of immigrant background to have relatives who went to other countries - most commonly the US. It seems like most people I know have family in some combination of the US, Australia, and/or the UK (aside from the "old country" of course).
Now, how long those connections will last is another matter (like in my case, we've lost touch with my relatives who went to Argentina 50 years ago by this point, but still see our American cousins once or twice a year) - but as long as there remains a steady stream of immigration to both countries, I think it's likely for this occurrence to continue.
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True. Canadians seem really likely to have non-Canadian relatives or have kept in touch with people outside the borders of Canada, within living memory, much more so than Americans in my experience. I think it's the high percentage of not just first generation immigrants but people two to three generations removed from migration.
By comparison, it seems much more common for Americans to only have family in the US and have their entire extended families mostly within their country's borders.
For example, it's much more common for an American to say "I've got family in northern Virginia here, and in Seattle there, and in LA there etc." but not mention non-US locations. It seems like in the US, there's a bigger contrast between recent immigrants who have families overseas or across borders and then the Americans who don't really visit any degree of family relations outside US borders at all.
While in Canada it's much more common to say "I've got family in Toronto here, and in California there and in the UK, Europe/Asia/Caribbean etc."
Just my experience.