‘I’m just so embarrassed’: B.C. family to renounce American citizenship

Andrew Johnson speaks to a B.C. family who says they're so embarrassed to be American citizens, they have initiated the process of renouncing it.

Immigration lawyers say they are seeing a 50 per cent surge in Americans living in Canada looking to renounce their U.S. citizenship.

Campbell River, B.C.’s Jennifer Doxey and her family are among them.

“I’m just so embarrassed by what my country has become,” she told CTV News.

Doxey, who grew up in Ohio, met her husband who had dual citizenship, in 2003. Five years later, they decided to raise their children in Canada.

“Living in the States is nothing like what we see portrayed in television shows,” she said.

“Living in an industrial part of the Midwestern U.S., you know, I watched all my friends’ parents lose their good jobs at factories and car manufacturing facilities.”

Still, she met resistance when she announced the plan to move north.

“When we decided to move to Canada one family member told me to ‘enjoy your life in a communist country.’”

She calls her time in Canada amazing.

“It’s been wonderful. In fact, I think one of the things I’ll tell people when they ask why I’m here is I literally came to Canada looking for the American dream.”

When Donald Trump was re-elected as U.S. President and began to target Canada with tariffs and talk of annexation, Doxey was livid.

“To hear Donald trump come on television and say he wants Canada to be the 51st state, it infuriated me. It absolutely infuriated me.”

That’s when the family made the decision to pursue renouncing their American citizenship.

“We feel Canadian in every respect, but every last one of us is chained to the United States and we don’t want to be,” Doxey said.

But renouncing American citizenship is not for the faint of heart. It’s not simple or cheap.

“The U.S. is charging US$2,350 for individuals who are renouncing citizenship which is quite high compared to other countries,” said immigration lawyer Douglas Cowgill, who is seeing a large increase in requests since Trump’s election win.

Cowgill said the process can take months, including immigration filings, tax submissions, and an interview.

“Making sure you are fully confident in what you want to do is very important before you proceed to exit the U.S,” said Cowgill, himself an American who made the move to renounce his own citizenship in 2023.

“It’s a major life decision and it’s not something that should be taken lightly.” And there is no taking it back. The decision is final, Cowgill told CTV News.

Doxey said she and her family have 100 per cent confidence their future is in Canada.

“I have no intention of ever going back to the states.”