Ottawa border crackdown slashes asylum claims by 50 per cent
Internal government figures show refugee applications have been cut in half since Bill C-12 became law, while Conservatives argue Ottawa’s reforms still don’t go far enough.
The Liberal government’s border crackdown appears to be reducing asylum claims, with federal figures showing applications have been cut in half since Bill C-12 became law.
Internal Immigration Department documents, first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, say officials are rejecting more refugee claims as ineligible under the tougher rules.
“Canada’s asylum system is not a shortcut to permanent immigration,” the department said in a Jun. 16 briefing note, adding there has already been “an increase in asylum claims that have been found ineligible” since the legislation received Royal Assent on Mar. 26.
Just 13,710 asylum claims were filed nationwide in the three months after Bill C-12 passed, down from 27,838 during the same period last year—a 50 per cent drop.
The law gives cabinet broad powers to suspend or halt the processing of study permits, work permits, visitor visas and other immigration documents whenever it deems doing so to be “in the public interest.”
