Prime Minister François Legault said again on Thursday that he wanted Roxham Road to be “closed” because Quebec would have “exceeded its reception capacity”. Data shows, however, that the majority of asylum seekers in provincially-run accommodation did not arrive that way.
The largest group of migrants present in the sites of the Regional Program for the Reception and Integration of Asylum Seekers (PRAIDA) comes from Mexico. However, only 15 Mexicans have arrived in the country through official entry points since the beginning of 2023, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
PRAIDA confirms that the majority of asylum seekers accommodated in its sites have rather passed through the airport and come from Mexico. “This phenomenon dates back approximately 12 months and it seems to fluctuate according to the price of plane tickets”, indicates Carl Thériault, public relations officer for PRAIDA.
Since 2016, Mexican nationals no longer need to hold a visa to visit Canada. They can stay as tourists in the country for six months and therefore come by plane.
In 2022, 7,483 asylum applications from Mexicans were sent to the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), the tribunal that determines whether an applicant is in need of protection or not.
In total, a third of the approximately 59,000 asylum seekers who arrived in Quebec in 2022, or 19,800 people, did not go through Roxham. This trend continued in January, the last month for which data are available. These asylum applications may have been lodged at an air or maritime port of entry, or at an office inside the territory. The Safe Third Country Agreement only covers land crossings and, by omission, allows asylum to be claimed at unofficial ports of entry.
Real pressure and “instrumentalization”
In a letter sent in February to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Mr. Legault complains that the situation at Roxham Road is creating untenable pressure on services, including temporary accommodation.
PRAIDA falls under the provincial government, but its costs are covered by the federal government. Ottawa also hosts about 2,400 applicants in Quebec and nearly 4,900 in Ontario, mostly people arriving between designated ports of entry, so by Roxham, IRCC says by email to Duty.
Transfers to Ontario began on June 30, 2022, and so far approximately 8,000 applicants have been transferred after arriving in Quebec at the southern border. The Premier of Quebec is not yet satisfied. “We see that in March, we reached 58% of new arrivals by Roxham who are sent outside Quebec. But it’s still not enough, ”he said Thursday morning.
This situation, the fact that a good part of the asylum seekers in the accommodation did not go through Roxham, however dates from before these transfers, as indicated by the spokesperson for PRAIDA and two organizations in the field. The community network also welcomes its share of asylum seekers and also offers them services for a limited time.
Whether an asylum seeker arrives via Roxham or via the airport, “everyone can need accommodation, including people from Mexico,” says Arthur Durieux, manager of the Le Pont organization. He estimates that about half of the families present in his reception center did not go through the now famous path in southern Quebec.
His organization receives no public funding, but he says he is “exasperated” by the political discourse on asylum seekers. “The demand is very strong at the moment, but Quebec has denied aid to organizations for years,” he says on the phone.
The number of places in traditional PRAIDA accommodation places has not changed since 2017, when arrivals accelerated. Temporary sites had nevertheless opened their doors during that year, including the Olympic Stadium, but since Roxham Road reopened in November 2021 after pandemic restrictions, Quebec has refused to increase the reception capacity.
“We pay the piper for what is not supported by the government. It is on the back of the community, because there is no leadership, no political will, no coordination, ”deplores Eva Gracia-Turgeon, director of the Foyer du monde.
She also notes that the majority of asylum seekers who knock on the door of her reception house have not passed through Roxham. “It dates from before the transfers to Ontario”, she specifies, which shows in her opinion “a certain instrumentalization” of the Roxham applicants.
Last January, a coalition of community organizations launched a cry from the heart. This appeal was heard by the CAQ government, which quickly released $3.5 million in emergency aid.
“The message from the community was not that Quebec is ‘full’, it was that we need constant funding and, above all, that an emergency plan be put in place,” adds Ms.me Gracia-Turgeon.