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The number of people seeking asylum in Canada is now the highest it's been since 2009, driven in part by a surge in asylum seekers showing up at the Canada-U.S. border.
New statistics released Tuesday by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada show that as of August, 27,440 claims for asylum have been filed in Canada, a peak since record highs of between 36,000 and 33,000 in 2008 and 2009.
During a briefing Monday with immigration organizations in New York City, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said based on current trends, Canada could see 40,000 claimants by the end of the year, according to Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel, who was in the room. Hussen's office confirmed her account.
"Given the global forced displacement and forced migration, this is now a public policy concern," Rempel said.
At current levels, the federal and provincial governments are looking at a bill of at least $353.9 million to $548.8 million to process claims and provide the required services — the cost per claim ranges from $12,900 to $20,000, the Immigration Department says.
Those numbers don't take into account the cost of deporting failed claimants, nor the special measures rolled out to manage the sudden summer spike in border arrivals. Those measures were deployed in July and early August as upwards of 200 people were crossing into Quebec from New York state each day. Officials say the number of arrivals have since come back down.
The full scope of the situation over the summer was reflected in the data released Tuesday — the RCMP intercepted 5,530 people crossing illegally into Quebec in August, up from 2,996 in July.
As of August, 13,211 people have been intercepted trying to make a similar journey and while the numbers are highest in Quebec, British Columbia registered a spike of its own last month. There, 102 people were stopped, up from 51 the month before.
