The Canadian government plans to change the asylum application process, which could speed up the deportation of individuals with rejected claims. The number of asylum applications from international students has increased by 1500%, raising suspicions that applicants are abusing the system to extend their stay in Canada while their refugee claim is in process.
Two weeks ago, the 2024 federal budget mentioned proposed changes because of a record number of asylum seekers happening recently. The budget states: "To support quicker decisions and deportations, there will be implemented several changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to speed up the application process."
Immigration lawyer Chantal Desloges noted: "When the government talks about “speeding up”, we know that people's rights are about to be sacrificed for administrative efficiency."
Since March this year, 46,736 people have sought asylum in Canada, a 62% increase from 2023. The backlog of applications has reached 186,000. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that temporary immigration has grown at an uncontrollable rate and needs to be managed.
Deporting failing refugee applicants has become a real chellenge for the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). In February, CBSA had more than 28,000 "active warrants" for the deportation of "rejected asylum claimants."
Immigration lawyer Warren Creates emphasized the importance of investing in the refugee application process: "We need to ensure a fair opportunity for applicants to present their cases and understand their fears."
To address the backlog, the government will allocate $743.5 million over five years for CBSA, IRCC, and IRB. Last year, more than 141,000 asylum applications were submitted, while IRB can only process 50,000 annually. Tripled budgets and resources are needed to solve the problem.
New rules are expected to be introduced in the coming months to optimize the asylum process.
