{"id":48486,"date":"2026-02-27T01:48:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T09:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=48486"},"modified":"2026-02-26T08:31:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T16:31:39","slug":"thinking-of-leaving-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2026\/02\/27\/thinking-of-leaving-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"Thinking of leaving Canada?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Sachs moves to Tulsa, helps others make a similar shift.<\/p>\n

When Michael Sachs and his family moved from Vancouver to Tulsa, Okla., he did not expect the response that followed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter I came down, I just got lots of people reaching out to me,\u201d said Sachs, who relocated to become senior director of the Jewish Federation of Tulsa. The messages came from all over Canada \u2013 Toronto, Windsor, Montreal, Halifax, Winnipeg, Vancouver.<\/p>\n

A significant number of Canadian Jews seem to have decided on \u2013 or are pondering \u2013 relocation, he told the Independent<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Tulsa\u2019s Jewish community has been running an organized outreach effort called Tulsa Tomorrow, designed to give Jewish families a chance to visit, experience the city and its Jewish life, and consider relocating there.\u00a0After hearing from so many Canadians, Sachs suggested Tulsa Tomorrow create a specifically Canadian-focused initiative. Together, they created Lech L\u2019Tulsa<\/i> (\u201cGo to Tulsa\u201d), an enhanced Tulsa Tomorrow program that addresses obstacles that face Canadians.<\/p>\n

To date, the\u00a0new\u00a0initiative has drawn more than\u00a0350\u00a0applications from Canadian families, representing more than\u00a01,000\u00a0people. Groups of prospective movers are invited to come for multi-day exploratory trips that include meeting community leaders, attending Shabbat services, touring neighbourhoods, and connecting with local resources to help them assess whether moving to Tulsa would make sense for their families.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Michael Sachs (photo from Michael Sachs)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sachs\u2019 enthusiasm for his new city is palpable, but he is careful to position the campaign in ways that do not threaten other Jewish communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not trying to steal people,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not trying to recruit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, he describes the effort as practical support for people already considering a move. \u201cWe\u2019re just trying to find ways for those who\u00a0have made\u00a0this decision \u2026 to help lower the bar, to make it be a possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exploratory visit planned for late February has already outgrown expectations. \u201cThe average cohort in the past would be 15 to 20 people,\u201d Sachs said. This time, they have already reached that capacity and\u00a0have expanded it to 55.<\/p>\n

Cost of living is one of the most significant differences families notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are sitting in a decent position on your house in Vancouver and you sell it, you can get a house here, possibly mortgage-free,\u201d said Sachs.<\/p>\n

Oklahoma, he added, is \u201ca very friendly state.\u201d Taxes are lower and \u201cyou bring home more of your paycheque,\u201d though health care works differently than in Canada.<\/p>\n

Health care is a cost, he acknowledged, but it is also more speedily accessible.<\/p>\n

Tulsa\u2019s Jewish community, he said, numbers about 7,500, with roughly 2,500 actively involved. There is a 16-acre Jewish community campus, a community centre, a retirement facility, a Jewish day school through Grade 5, a Holocaust centre and synagogues.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a very warm community,\u201d he said. \u201cSouthern hospitality is a big thing here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sachs is intentional about how he frames the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith every conversation we have, we start off with two things,\u201d he said. \u201cOne, we are not lawyers, so we don\u2019t give you legal advice.\u201d Immigration is complex, and families are directed to law firms offering consultations. \u201cWe\u2019re highly encouraging everyone \u2026 to use them because we don\u2019t want people to try to do stuff themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Second, he said, \u201cwe\u2019re not finding people jobs.\u201d Each family must evaluate its own employment prospects. Immigration is not simple.<\/p>\n

Sachs emphasized that Lech L\u2019Tulsa is a nonpolitical program and he hedged on whether the United States is a better place than Canada for Jews to live.<\/p>\n

\u201cA decision of this magnitude cannot be made on a single issue,\u201d he said. For his family, the calculation included \u201ccost of living, future for our children, the fentanyl crisis \u2026 antisemitism was one of those factors.\u201d<\/p>\n

He cautioned against moving solely because of antisemitism.<\/p>\n

\u201cNowhere is immune,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At the same time, he said, based on data from Statistics Canada, \u201ca Jew in Canada is nine times more likely to suffer a hate crime than a Jew in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

That said, most families are driven primarily by practical concerns. \u201cPeople decide because of economic reasons, cost of living, opportunities,\u201d said Sachs.<\/p>\n

He described Tulsa as having a similar hip vibe to Austin, Tex., a decade ago.<\/p>\n

Sachs admitted he remains emotionally tied to Vancouver.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community of Vancouver is in my heart always,\u201d he said. \u201cMy mom is there. My friends are there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, he views his family\u2019s move and the\u00a0Lech L\u2019Tulsa\u00a0project as part of a broader obligation. \u201cThis is part of the commitment that I made ultimately \u2026 many years ago,\u201d he said, \u201cto speak up, to advocate \u2026 and to help.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Sachs moves to Tulsa, helps others make a similar shift. When Michael Sachs and his family moved from Vancouver to Tulsa, Okla., he did not expect the response that followed. \u201cAfter I came down, I just got lots of people reaching out to me,\u201d said Sachs, who relocated to become senior director of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[6319,24661,7673,24660],"class_list":["post-48486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","tag-emigration","tag-lech-ltulsa","tag-michael-sachs","tag-oklahoma"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48486\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}