NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- Canada is seeing an uptick of asylum seekers at its border following US President Donald Trump’s decision to end protected status for more than 500,000 Haitians in the US.
At least 557 migrants arrived at the Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle border crossing between New York and Quebec in the first week of April alone, according to data from the Canada Border Services Agency. That’s about as many as that location saw in the entire month of January, and already about 40% of the number seen in March.
The increase is driven by Haitians currently living in the US whose so-called Temporary Protected Status is set to end in August, potentially leading to deportation, according to groups who help the migrants. The protections granted to Haitians after a devastating earthquake in 2010 have allowed recipients to live and work in the US. With the designation poised to end, some are turning to Canada, mirroring a wave of migration that happened during Trump’s first term.
“There are a lot of Haitians coming here and requesting asylum because they are targeted,” said Serge Bouchereau, founding member of an action committee for people without status in Montreal. If Trump continues with its current immigration policy, “there will be an influx of asylum seekers in Canada,” he said.
“We shouldn’t be sending people back to Haiti right now, because there’s a war going on, people are being killed, people are being raped,” Bouchereau said.
Experts said a repeat of the 2017 surge of refugees is unlikely because the US and Canada have since closed a loophole that had allowed migrants to make asylum claims at irregular entry points. Canada’s border agency said “additional resources have been put in place to ensure a safe and secure border,” and the government has been trying to reduce overall immigration levels.
Quebec, where French speakers are the majority, is a popular destination for Haitian immigrants because there’s no language barrier and there’s an existing Haitian community of some 180,000 already living in the province.
But there are major risks. “What’s going to end up happening is that when you are turned away from the Canadian border, the chances of being detained by the Americans on the other side are astronomical,” said Pia Zambelli, chairwoman of the refugee committee at the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association.
“The word will soon spread that it’s not going to work and that it’s dangerous for them to do so.”
The Canadian government has been expecting a rise in the number of northbound crossings after Trump returned to the White House. In January, the border agency said it was expanding the Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle center’s capacity to process asylum claims “in the event of an influx.”
A similar effort by the Trump administration to end TPS for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans has been temporarily blocked by a federal court. Legal challenges are also expected over the decision to roll back the protections for Haitians.
A group of Democratic lawmakers has urged the Department of Homeland Security to reverse course, citing unsafe conditions in Haiti along with the role of Haitian workers in the US economy, including in the health care, construction and child care sectors.
CBSA said that the Quebec region has processed 5,246 asylum applications from air and land ports of entry so far in 2025, a reduction of more than 50% from the same period last year. In February 2024, Canada brought back visa requirements for many travelers coming from Mexico to stem an influx of asylum seekers arriving at airports.
— With assistance from Sarah McGregor and Laura Dhillon Kane