Asylum claimants in Canada might soon be more easily deported by the federal government under proposed but as-yet-unspecified changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) that were announced in Ottawa’s 2024 budget.
“Budget 2024 also proposes to introduce changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to simplify and streamline the claims process in support of faster decisions and quicker removals,” notes the latest federal budget.
Both Immigration Minister Marc Miller and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) have reportedly declined to specify what those changes might be – and that has migrants’ rights activists worried the proposed streamlining of the asylum process might lead to the infringement of migrants’ rights.
The proposed streamlining of asylum claimants comes as the immigration minister re-imposes visa requirements on Mexicans coming to Canada.
Miller has also recent introduced a cap on international study permit applications and a reduction in the number of hours international students can work while studying in Canada. Furthermore, a new temporary immigration levels plan is to be unveiled in September.
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Ottawa has also announced it may start holding these migrants in Canada in federal penitentiaries now that all of the provinces have decided they will no longer work with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to hold them in provincial jails.
Claims for asylum in Canada have been on the upswing. Global News reports that 46,736 people have filed applications for asylum in Canada since March this year, a 62 per cent spike from the same period last year, and there is now a backlog of 186,000 such applications.
The federal government has earmarked a reported $743.5 million over five years for the CBSA, IRCC and Immigration and Refugee Board to deal with that backlog.
Canada is facing a housing affordability crisis and many are blaming immigrants – and temporary immigrants in particular – for fuelling demand that is driving up home prices and rents.
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Temporary workers who come to Canada on work visas and study permits often later seek to immigrate to Canada through either the federal Express Entry system’s Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program, Federal Skilled Trades (FST) program and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) or the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) of the provinces.
The immigration minister’s cap of 606,250 study permit applications this year is expected to reduce the number of new study permits issued this year by 40 per cent.
“The intent of these Instructions is to ensure the number of study permit applications accepted into processing by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration … within the scope of the instructions does not exceed 606,250 study permit applications for one year beginning on the date of signature,” the Canada Gazette reported on Feb. 3.
Economists Warn Canada Needs Immigration To Curb Inflation
Economists, though, warn that a drop in immigration to Canada will make the average age of Canadian residents older and will have a ripple effect on Ottawa’s coffers.
“Immigration has long been seen as one way to help blunt the economic impact from the wave of people leaving the labour force as the relatively large baby boom generation continues to hit retirement age,” has noted RBC senior economist Nathan Janzen
“Those retirements lower tax revenues for governments while demand for services like healthcare and social security accelerates, creating a large funding gap.”
In his report, How Lowering The Number Of Non-Permanent Residents Will Impact Canada’s Economy, the economist points out that Canada’s long-term demographic challenges aren’t going to go away.
“Labour shortages have been easing as high interest rates slow hiring demand, but they’ll be back again after the short-run economic cycle as the share of the population hitting retirement age continues to rise,” he cautions.
And Janzen also doubts that immigrants are really the cause of the housing crisis.
“Slower population growth might slow house price and rent growth in future years but isn’t likely to solve Canada’s affordability problem,” he notes.
“The shortage of housing in Canada … is decades in the making and predates the recent surge in population growth. As we take away some of the housing or rental demand in the near-term, we’re also taking away potential labour supply in construction and building activities that will help build more houses.”
Although all of the provinces have stated their intentions to end their contracts for the detention of migrants in their provincial jails, many of the provinces still have on-going contracts with the CBSA which have yet to run their course
“Our detention applies across the entire immigration spectrum. It’s not just refugees. It’s not just people applying for asylum. It’s anybody in the immigration continuum,” CBSA vice-president of intelligence and enforcement Aaron McCrorie reportedly told CBC News earlier this year.
“We do not detain asylum seekers at all unless we don’t know who they are, unless they pose a risk to the public.”
That means there are still migrants in provincial jails in Canada. Most of them are being held for less than a day but a little less than a quarter of them are held for 100 days or more.
