Canada registered a record number of asylum seekers in 2023

Canada is experiencing an unprecedented spike in asylum seekers. According to data released by the Border Services Agency and the Ministry of Immigration, in 2023 over 144,000 applications were registered, an increase of 57% compared to 2022. This growth is causing problems at shelters and healthcare centers, among other services, in addition to increasing the financial pressure on some provincial governments.

Data from federal institutions indicate that the main gateway for these asylum seekers were airports, especially those in Montreal and Toronto. The second was the land routes; both the border posts and irregular entry points. The arrival by sea was minuscule (just 35 requests). Quebec was the province that received the most people (about 65,000), followed by Ontario (just over 63,000). British Columbia and Alberta received about 7,600 and 6,000 respectively.

Quebec Premier François Legault sent a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday. In the letter, Legault asked the leader for additional measures. “We are nearing a breaking point due to the excessive number of asylum seekers arriving in Quebec month after month. The situation has become unsustainable,” he stated, underlining that this wave is creating strong pressure on government services and reception agencies. Legault asked the federal government for other provinces to take in more asylum seekers, and requested an aid package of about 470 million Canadian dollars (US$350 million).

Trudeau responded to the letter during a visit to the Territory of Nunavut, stating that “we are going to share the burden and responsibility of continuing to be a country that welcomes people from all over the world and integrates them successfully.” The Minister of Intergovernmental Relations, Dominic LeBlanc, declared on Sunday that the government is studying how to compensate the most affected provinces.

In his letter, the Quebec premier mentioned that “the possibility of reaching Canada from Mexico without a visa undoubtedly explains part of the influx of asylum seekers.” Mexicans occupied the first position in the list of applications for 2023: about 24,000 (there were 115 in 2015). Justin Trudeau eliminated the visa requirement for Mexicans in 2016. Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper had reimposed this requirement following the growing number of asylum applications. Academics at York University in Toronto calculate that the approval rate of asylum applications submitted by Mexicans was 44% in 2022.

Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, said on Monday that the return of the visa requirement for Mexicans is one of the scenarios under consideration, but that Canada is in diplomatic conversations with Mexico, one of its main trading partners, regarding the considerable increase in asylum seekers. Federal officials cited by Canadian media have indicated that one possibility is that the visa might be required of Mexicans with no prior trips to Canada.

Miller acknowledged that the increase in the numbers of new arrivals is putting strong pressure on different government services; also on access to housing, one of the most serious problems for a large part of Canadians. “Canada has to take action,” Miller said, “and there is work to be done.” The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, addressed this issue at an event in Vancouver, calling the Liberal government “incompetent.” The Conservative leader declared: “Before Mr. Trudeau came to power, we had the most efficient immigration system in Canada in world history.”

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