Land entry points have lost popularity in favor of air entry points.
In 2023, the majority of 29,455 land entries into Canada took place in Quebec.
Geography being what it is, it is easier to cross by land in Quebec, explains Stéphanie Valois. However, some people will prefer to move to a province where they can live and work in English, a language they are more familiar with.
In a way, Roxham Road favored a certain organization: taking fingerprints, copies of passports, checking criminal records, etc., says lawyer Stéphanie Valois.
Louis-Philippe Jannard, coordinator of the Protection component of the Table de concertation des organizations serving refugees and immigrants, agrees.
< p class="Text-sc-2357a233-1 fnWfaZ">The advantage of the informal arrangement at Roxham Road was that there was some control over who arrived. Now, since these are entries little detected by the authorities, it is difficult to have exact figures.
A quote from Louis-Philippe Jannard, coordinator of the Protection component of the Table de concertation des organizations serving refugees and immigrants
People who arrive through air ports of entry are mainly people who enter Canada on a tourist or student visa. They then request asylum internally, at least two weeks later, as provided by law.
Contrary to what was required before June 24, 2023, the asylum seeker must not declare themselves to the Canadian authorities and submit their asylum application before the 15th day. He will have to prove that he stayed in Canada for at least two weeks before submitting his application, explains Stéphanie Valois.
Some people wait a month or two before submitting an asylum application to be sure that it is deemed admissible, she continues.
These people do not necessarily dare to seek help from organizations, or other services such as food banks, so this places them in a very precarious situation.
A quote from Louis-Philippe Jannard, coordinator of the Protection section of the Table de concertation des organizations serving refugees and immigrants
As a result, resources for the homeless are welcoming many more migrants than before, as is the case for the Old Brewery mission in Montreal, which is welcoming twice as many migrants as usual.
< p class="StyledBodyHtmlParagraph-sc-48221190-4 hnvfyV">Accommodation services on arrival offered by the Quebec government via the Regional Reception and Integration Program for Asylum Seekers (PRAIDA) and the federal government, which accommodates several thousand people in Montreal and the surrounding area, are not available for people who apply for asylum internally, explains Louis-Philippe Jannard.
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Shelters for people experiencing homelessness are not designed to accommodate migrants, which poses great challenges for people who apply asylum. (File photo)
We do not have all the elements at the psychosocial level to adequately support the person in their traumas, notes the director of services at the Saint-Laurent Campus at the Old Brewery Mission, Émilie Fortier, adding that linguistic issues pose a problem.< /p>
We had translation issues. There are people who speak neither French nor English, so it's a little more difficult to communicate and offer adapted services, she adds.
She also confirms that she no longer sees as many families as in the past.
We have had a very large increase in young men under 35, without families. We're talking about double if we compare over one year.
A quote from Émilie Fortier, director of services at the Saint-Laurent Campus at the Old Brewery Mission
The closure of Roxham Road did not slow down the arrival of asylum seekers: their numbers actually exploded (New window) last year.
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The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) processed 52,055 more asylum applications in 2023, compared to the previous year.
The Border Services Agency and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada processed a record number of 143,785 asylum applications in 2023, including more than 65,500 in Quebec.
Natasha Kumar has been a reporter on the news desk since 2018. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining The Times Hub, Natasha Kumar worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my natasha@thetimeshub.in 1-800-268-7116