Nearly 6,000 migrants requested asylum in Quebec last month for a record total of 65,570 in 2023, according to the most recent data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), published Friday.
Quebec thus received 45% of the 144,035 protection requests presented in Canada in 2023.
This percentage of 45% is lower than in 2022, when Roxham Road was wide open, but the number of asylum seekers is on the rise.
In 2022, Quebec received 58,805 requests out of a Canadian total of 91,735, or 56%.
Faced with this unprecedented influx of migrants, Prime Minister François Legault asked his federal counterpart Justin Trudeau to slow down the arrival of asylum seekers and better distribute them across the country, in a letter dated January 17. Quebec is approaching the “breaking point” due to the “excessive” number of asylum seekers on its territory, he said, adding that the situation has become “unsustainable.”
The record for asylum seekers set in 2022 was exceeded in November, even before the end of the year, as reported The Press.
Main drop-off point
Despite the fact that the flow of migrants has diversified towards other provinces last year, Quebec is still the main point of arrival for asylum seekers in Canada.
In his letter, Mr. Legault points out that, “on a per capita basis, Quebec welcomed three times more than the rest of Canada” in 2023. “The sudden arrival of such a large number of people generates pressure very important,” he adds, while asking Mr. Trudeau to financially compensate Quebec for the costs incurred since 2021.
Justin Trudeau responded at a press conference on Thursday that his government was going to “be there to share the burden and responsibility” of welcoming asylum seekers.
Contrary to what was expected, the closure of Roxham Road did not slow down the flow of migrants, who found other ways to enter the country. Throughout the year, we witnessed the entry by plane of holders of visitor visas who subsequently applied for asylum. This was facilitated by the relaxation of criteria for issuing these visas, particularly in Africa, with the aim of reducing the inventory.
The pressure exerted by this new mode of entry should, however, ease in 2024 because the federal government announced, on December 15, that it was ending the program which consisted of accelerating the issuance of visitor visas for countries where these delays were very long.
Second destination
In 2023, Ontario was the second largest migrant destination with 44% of all applications received in Canada. The neighboring province’s catch-up was spectacular: Ontario welcomed 63,390 asylum seekers, more than double the previous year, when 26,505 requests were recorded.
Far behind, British Columbia received 7,695 applications, and Alberta had 6,050. The other provinces were very little affected by the arrival of migrants.
According to data from the Regional Reception and Integration Program for Asylum Seekers (PRAIDA), which reports to the government of Quebec, asylum seekers who arrived in Quebec in 2023 were mainly from Mexico, whose citizens can enter Canada without a visa, from Colombia, Haiti, Turkey and Venezuela.