Posters telling the Irish to go home have been spotted in Canada

But not for the reason you might think.

A campaign to get Irish people to leave Canada is generating quite a bit of controversy across the water and it's not hard to see why.

Posters bearing the message 'Go Home Irish' have been placed in strategic places around Toronto. There's also an address for a site called 'pleaseleavecanada.com'.

But this isn't because of any anti-Irish sentiment among our Canadian friends - it’s the brainchild of a Dublin advertising agency who want our expats to come home.

“We are looking to hire Irish people who have worked in other parts of the world. We’re not anti-emigration, but we’d love to lure some of these internationally seasoned brains back home by pretending to be Anti-Irish-Canadians.”

The Social House say that they believe that it’s time for all those who've emigrated to come home as there are new job opportunities springing up in Dublin (what about the rest of the country?).

“We’ve been abroad ourselves. We know the pull of home but the fear that you may have to compromise on your career to come back.  It can seem from the outside that Dublin doesn’t offer as good an opportunity as somewhere like New York, London, Sydney, or Toronto.

"But Dublin’s finding its feet again as a creative city, and we’re working hard to mess with the system and get make advertising more fun.”

Typing in 'pleaseleavecanada.com' brings you to the Social House website where you will see the following recruitment ad.

Shockingly (or not), the ads have been getting a mixed response, with a number of people complaining that they will create tension between the Irish and Canadians, as many will think they're real.

Hmm, it's a risky move. Let's see how it works out