CIMM – Asylum and The Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) – May 12, 2022
Key Messages
- Canada remains firmly committed to upholding a fair and compassionate refugee protection system and to aiding those genuinely in need of help and protection.
- The STCA serves Canada well by ensuring that our shared border with the U.S. remains well managed. Canada believes that the STCA remains a comprehensive means for the compassionate, fair, and orderly handling of asylum claims in our two countries.
- Asylum claim volumes are difficult to predict and depend on many factors. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada continues to work with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police along with the provinces and territories to respond to claim volumes.
- Per the STCA, individuals should continue to seek asylum in the first safe country in which they enter after fleeing persecution.
Supplementary Messages
STCA modernization
- We are committed to protecting the safety of Canadians and keeping our border secure while ensuring that, asylum seekers are treated with compassion and afforded due process under the law.
- Canada and the U.S. benefit from a long history of mutual cooperation on issues related to border management.
- STCA is an important bilateral tool for managing asylum claims at the Canada-U.S. land border.
If pressed: Canada is working with the U.S. on a range of border issues, including the STCA so that it can continue to be a compassionate and fair way to handle asylum claims between our two countries.
Enhancing Canada’s asylum system
- Economic and Fiscal Snapshot 2020 provided $780 million to support the capacity of Canada’s asylum system for two years (2021-2022 and 2022-2023), with one additional year of post-Refugee Appeal Division processing (2023-2024).
- Budget 2022 earmarked $1.3 billion over the next 5 years and $331 million ongoing for Canada’s asylum system.
Asylum claim volumes
- Asylum claim volumes are difficult to predict and depend on many factors. Contingency plans have been implemented to handle high volumes of asylum claimants crossing at ports or between ports of entry (irregular claims).
Asylum eligibility decisions
- Given the high volumes of regular and irregular asylum claims, claimants are currently facing longer than usual wait times for eligibility decisions. All claimants are issued an Acknowledgement of Claim, and Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) coverage, within three days of making a claim. IRCC and CBSA are working to address the existing inventories of claims awaiting an eligibility decision.
Roxham Road
- On November 21, 2021, Canada removed the temporary pandemic-related measures restricting asylum claims from foreign nationals seeking entry from the U.S. between designated land ports of entry (POE) and as expected, there has been a rise in the number of asylum seekers entering Canada at the Lacolle irregular border crossing in Quebec.
- In order to prepare for the projected Spring/Summer surge of asylum claims, IRCC continues to work on operational contingency plans in collaboration with interdepartmental and provincial partners. Planning exercises are being held in the coming weeks to ensure cohesion and readiness among all partners.
Temporary accommodations for unvaccinated asymptomatic asylum claimants
- Currently, IRCC holds leases with 17 hotels across Canada with a capacity of over 1,000 rooms, and contracts with service providers in 13 locations near key ports of entry, to provide temporary accommodations to asylum seekers those who do not have a suitable plan for quarantine.
- Additionally, since the end of the pandemic-related prohibition on entry from the U.S. between POEs for the purpose of making an asylum claim on November 21, 2021, IRCC has been providing temporary accommodations to both unvaccinated asylum claimants without a suitable quarantine plan and fully vaccinated asymptomatic asylum claimants who do not require quarantine but are waiting to be transferred to the shelter system in Quebec. Quebec’s shelter capacity has also been reduced due to COVID-19 health restrictions.
- From April 19, 2020, to March 31, 2022, IRCC has accommodated approximately 9,000 asymptomatic asylum claimants. It should be noted that, out of this total, from November 21, 2021, to March 31, 2022, IRCC has accommodated approximately 1,800 fully vaccinated asylum claimants who were waiting for available bed space in the Quebec shelter system.
Supporting facts and figures
Number of Asylum Claims
Mode of Entry | January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020 | January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021 | January 1, 2022 – March 31 2022 | Total 2020, 2021, and 2022 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Regular Claims | Airport | 1,864 | 3,472 | 2,425 | 6,653 |
Inland | 15,875 | 11,959 | 5,834 | 30,303 | |
Land Border | 2,464 | 5,225 | 1,269 | 8,592 | |
Marine | 15 | 19 | 8 | 37 | |
Total | 20,218 | 20,675 | 9,536 | 45,585 | |
Irregular Claims | Irregular | 3,599 | 4,551 | 7,186 | 11,677 |
Total Claims | 23,817 | 25,226 | 16,722 | 57,262 |
Data source and Date: IRCC-EDW (CBR) - Refreshed April 8, 2022
Eligibility Decisions
- As of April 12, 2022, there are 18,123 asylum claims that are pending eligibility decision (IRCC and CBSA), with 34% (6,250) of the total belonging to IRCC. In FY 2021-2022, 80% of the applications under IRCC's responsibility took 328 days or less to have their eligibility decision processed.
- In FY 2021-2022, processing timesFootnote * for initial work permits (S61) for asylum claimants was 26 days.
Data Source: CICEDW(CBR) as of April 13, 2022.
Background
Safe Third Country Agreement
- The STCA, in effect since December 2004, requires that asylum claimants seek protection in the first safe country that they enter (i.e., either Canada or the U.S.).
The objectives of the STCA are to enhance the orderly handling of refugee claims, strengthen public confidence in the integrity of our refugee systems, reduce abuse and share responsibility for providing protection to those who meet the refugee definition. - The STCA applies to asylum claimants who seek to enter Canada from the U.S. at an official land port of entry. The Agreement does not apply to a number of groups as provided for in the regulations, including U.S. citizens or to those who arrive from the U.S. by sea or at an airport, claimants with family in Canada; unaccompanied minors; holders of certain Canadian documents (such as visas or work or study permits); and public interest exceptions. It also does not apply to claims made by people who have entered Canada between official ports of entry along the land border.
- Persons who are not eligible to make an asylum claim in Canada because of the application of the STCA are immediately returned to the U.S. where they can pursue such a claim and request protection from the U.S.
Modernizing the STCA
- Modernizing the STCA has been a Government priority for several years. Minister Fraser’s mandate letter directs him to continue to work with the U.S. to modernize the STCA. The Prime Minister confirmed publicly, last December, that this work with the U.S. is underway.
- The Government is not in a position to publicly disclose details of bilateral STCA modernization discussions.
STCA Litigation
- The STCA was upheld by the Federal Court of Appeal in April 2021 and it continues to apply at the Canada-U.S. border. The opposing parties were granted leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada on December 16, 2021. The hearing on the merits is anticipated to take place between fall 2022 and winter 2023. A decision is expected 3‑12 months following the hearing.
Review of the U.S. as a safe third country
- The Department continually monitors the U.S. in accordance with subsection 102(2) in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act: 1) whether the country is party to the Refugee Convention and Convention Against Torture; 2) its policies and practices with respect to claims and with respect to its obligations under the Convention Against Torture; 3) its human rights record; and 4) whether it is party to an agreement with Canada for the purpose of sharing responsibility with respect to claims for refugee protection.
Implications of quarantine / self-isolation requirements
- Unvaccinated claimants are required to meet the 14-day quarantine or self-isolation requirements. They are also required to take a COVID-19 molecular test upon arrival and another test later (e.g., on day eight) in their quarantine period. The federal government is assuming responsibility for transportation and accommodation requirements for symptomatic and asymptomatic claimants who do not have the means to self-isolate or quarantine.
- Any symptomatic or COVID-positive individual unable to isolate themselves are managed by the Public Health Agency of Canada. With respect to asymptomatic claimants, the Department is facilitating the quarantine of those who do not have an appropriate place to stay. If an asymptomatic asylum claimant at an IRCC temporary accommodation site becomes symptomatic during their stay, they and their close contacts are transferred to PHAC designated quarantine facility.
- Since November 29, 2021, all fully vaccinated asylum claimants arriving between ports of entry are subject to COVID-19 testing and must remain in quarantine until they receive negative results.
COVID impacts on Immigration and Refugee Board operations
- Since the beginning of the pandemic, the IRB has been guided by the dual objectives of protecting the health and safety of employees and those appearing before the Board, while also ensuring meaningful access to justice.
- In 2020, the IRB adapted its operations and began to pilot virtual hearings. In January 2021, the Board announced that it would adopt a remote-hearings-only operating model, with exceptions being made in exceptional circumstances.
- From January 2021 to end of March 2022, 98% of hearings have been held virtually, which represents nearly 50,000 virtual hearings, with a satisfaction rate over 95% in the Refugee Protection Division post-hearing surveys.
- IRB will continue to hear the majority of its matters virtually for the time being, with plans to implement a virtual/in-person hybrid approach once health conditions and operational realities allow. Sufficient advance notice of any changes will be provided to allow all parties time to accommodate any operational adjustments.
- Despite the significant disruptions of the past two years, the Board has returned to full productivity:
- the backlog of refugee claims and appeals has decreased by more than a third, from a high of over 101,000 to 59,000 files as of March 2022; and
- projected wait times for new refugee claims have decreased from 22 months at the start of the pandemic to 13 months as of March 2022, its lowest level since 2016.
- The Board expects that intake will return to and likely exceed pre-pandemic volumes in the coming years.
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