[4] The film features interviews with, among others, then Vancouver mayor (now Senator) Larry Campbell, Tommy Chong, Marc Emery, seen travelling the country and smoking marijuana in front of police stations, ex-U.S. soldier Brandon Hughey, trying to avoid serving in the Iraq War, and the couple known as the Michaels, whose impromptu wedding started a wave of gay marriages, and their lawyer Martha McCarthy.

[9][10] Albert Nerenberg felt that the two legal decisions concerning same-sex marriage and marijuana were made on the same day in 2003 was "very significant", as "something revealing about the direction of Canada as a country.

[9] Matt McMillan praises the film overall, appreciating its "wry wit and AD/HD editing velocity", calling Nerenberg's style "one of the most distinctive" in Canadian documentaries.

"[10] Dominic Bouchard, while acknowledging the limitations of the film's binary oppositions, appreciated its caustic humour, comparing it favourably to the work of Michael Moore,[18] as does Louis Proyect, specifically, to Sicko.

"[1] Teacher-librarian Joanne Peters agreed, assigning the film 2 stars out of 4, recommending it with reservations: "Escape to Canada offers an interesting perspective on the convergence of forces for social change.

At the same time, the movie makes some sweeping generalizations about both nations and certainly could have used better editing", saying aerial shots of wildlife becoming tiresome by third viewing, and even though the interviews lend credibility to the filmmakers' argument, they, too, are repetitive.

Travis Mackenzie Hoover feels the film engages in "smug self-regard" and does not need to be seen by any "marginally well-informed person":The influx of gay Americans yearning to be freer than in the land of the free is indeed touching, as is the saga of the ludicrous rigmarole pot users must endure once Canada institutes a medical marijuana policy and makes recreational use illegal again.

"[1] While still in production, Escape to Canada was reported to have had a spin-off TV hour, Don't Mind If I Do, "about the busloads of gay and lesbian couples heading north to tie the knot," but this does not appear to have come to fruition as a separate project.