CIMM - Asylum

Key Messages

• Like other countries, Canada is experiencing a rise in the number of people claiming asylum.
• The actions we have taken are consistent with the balance that the federal government is seeking to achieve between ensuring that Canada is a place for those who genuinely need protection, but also safeguards the safety of our citizens and the integrity of our asylum system.
• To ensure a well-managed and orderly response to recent asylum claim increases, we also continue to work with all levels of government.
• We are also in regular contact with the United States regarding our shared border, as well as with other countries on global migration and forced displacement issues.

Supplementary Messages

Asylum Funding

• Investments of more than $1B in Budget 2019 will nearly double the capacity of Canada’s asylum system over 2 years and support the implementation of the Government’s Border Enforcement Strategy. With these investments, we will ensure our asylum system is fast, fair and final.
• This approach has 3 pillars:
  1. Detect and discourage misuse of Canada’s visa system.
     • Correcting misinformation about our asylum system and encouraging would-be claimants to “get the facts” about Canada’s asylum through our social media channels and targeted advertising campaigns.
     • Proactively engaging with targeted recalcitrant countries to increase removals cooperation to support timely removals.
  2. Manage arrivals at the border.
     • Made legislative changes, including barring access to the IRB for those who have made asylum claims in another country, with which Canada shares immigration information.
     • Have contingency plans to manage intake and potential surges (e.g., mobile processing units, extra summer interim lodging capacity at Lacolle, Quebec).
  3. Invest in a fast, fair and final asylum system.
     • With temporary funding, the Refugee Protection Division of the IRB is on track to meet its target of 50,000 finalizations in 2020-2021.
     • We have increased the cooperation between my Department, CBSA and the IRB on how cases are managed. The Integrated Claim Analysis Centre was launched on September 30, 2019, and will triage 55% of national intake to streamline pre-hearing processes and ensure asylum program integrity.
     • Increased resources to the CBSA to help ensure failed asylum claimants are removed faster.

Municipal and Provincial Funding

• To date, the Government has provided over $370M to affected provinces and municipalities to help alleviate asylum-related housing pressures.
• So far, $250M has been provided to Quebec, $88M to the City of Toronto, $17.1M to the City of Ottawa, $6M to British Columbia, $8M to Manitoba, $2.2M to Peel and $220,000 to Hamilton.
• This is in addition to the significant investments to enhance the integrity of Canada’s borders and increase the capacity of the asylum system.
• At the same time, this Government is making significant investments in affordable housing through the National Housing Strategy, a 10-year, $55B plan to lift thousands of Canadians out of housing need.
• We appreciate the significant role that provincial and municipal partners have played in providing temporary shelter to asylum claimants.

Mexico

• The visa lift for Mexican nationals underscores the importance of the Canada–Mexico relationship and has built momentum in expanding trade, investment and tourism, and strengthened people‑to‑people ties.
• Since the visa requirement was lifted in December 2016, Canada has welcomed over 1.3 millions travellers from Mexico.
• While there have been many positive outcomes resulting from the visa lift, Mexican asylum claims have increased. As of December 31, 2019, there have been over 11,200 Mexican asylum claims since the visa was lifted in December 2016.
• Canada continues to work closely with Mexico to ensure the visa lift’s sustainability. We are carefully monitoring migration trends and we remain committed to protecting the safety and security of Canadians and maintaining the integrity of our immigration system.

Whether Asylum Claims Affect Processing Times

• Asylum claimants are not taking the place of:
  • refugees who are coming to Canada from abroad for resettlement; or
  • people waiting in other immigration streams.
• Asylum claims are decided by dedicated decision-makers at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada an independent tribunal.
• This does not impact IRCC's ability to make decisions on other types of immigration applications.

New Ineligibility

• Canada aims to discourage people from making asylum claims in multiple countries.
• Under a new law, a person who claims asylum in another country, with which Canada shares immigration information, is no longer eligible to have their claim heard by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.
• All people found ineligible under the new law will have access to a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment, which includes a hearing before being removed from Canada.
• This process assesses the risk an individual would face if returned to their home country. It determines if they should be allowed to stay in Canada or not.

Supporting Facts And Figures

Asylum claims in 2019:

• Irregular claims: 16,968
• Regular claims: 47,228
• Total claims: 64,196

From January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019, Canada received over 64,000 asylum claims. Overall asylum claim volumes are up by 16% in 2019 compared to 2018. The number of regular asylum claims over the same period increased by 34%, and the number of irregular asylum claims decreased by 15%.

The overall number of asylum claims received has increased four-fold from over 16,000 in 2015 to over 64,000 in 2019.

Data extracted from IRCC-Cognos on February 7, 2020.

Interim Housing Assistance Program

Background

Budget 2019 investments support the Border Enforcement Strategy and increase the asylum system’s capacity to provide timely protection to those who need it and ensure failed claimants are removed faster. This approach has 3 pillars:

1. Detect and discourage misuse of visa systems, by preventing travel to Canada by individuals who may not be legitimate temporary visa applicants. This includes:
   1. Targeted investments and outreach strategies have been made to correct misinformation about our asylum system and discourage irregular migration. This has included encouraging would-be claimants to “get the facts” about Canada’s asylum through our social media channels and targeted advertising campaigns.
   2. Undertaking proactive engagement with targeted recalcitrant countries to increase removals cooperation. Improving the timely removal of inadmissible individuals is one of the strongest deterrents of irregular migration.
2. Manage arrivals at the border, while ensuring the safety of Canadians, and maintaining contingency plans in the event of an influx of asylum seekers. This includes:
   1. Legislative changes have been made, including one to bar access to the Immigration and Refugee Board for those who have made asylum claims in a number of other countries with which Canada has an information sharing agreement, in order to discourage the making of multiple claims in different countries. Instead, as soon as removal proceedings are initiated, these individuals have access to a pre-removal risk assessment, including a mandatory hearing, to ensure that they are not returned to a situation of risk.
      • By the end of January 2020, around 500 asylum claims were found ineligible under the new ineligibility provision 101.1 (c.1) which came into effect on June 21, 2019. (Source: IRCC Cognos as of February 9, 2020)
   2. Plans have been put in place to manage intake and potential surges (e.g., mobile processing units, extra summer interim lodging capacity at Lacolle, Quebec).
3. Invest in a fast, fair and final asylum system. Temporary funding will allow the Immigration and Refugee Board to make decisions on up to 50,000 asylum claims and 13,500 appeals by fiscal year 2020-2021. Temporary funding was also provided streamline pre-hearing processes and ensure asylum program integrity via an Integrated Claim Analysis Centre pilot in Toronto.
   1. The asylum system is on track to meet targets and the growth in the backlog of asylum claim has slowed. The Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board is on track to meet its target of 50,000 finalizations in 2020-2021. The Integrated Claim Analysis Centre was launched on September 30, 2019, and will triage 55% of national intake.