Security officers are being diverted from across Canada to help with an anticipated spike in the number of asylum seekers crossing irregularly into Quebec
A warning from Canada Border Services Agency about possible delays.
Border security officers are being diverted from across Canada to help with an anticipated spike in the number of asylum seekers crossing irregularly into Québec.
CBSA has sent memos to members across the country advising them that agents from other regions will be sent to Québec to alleviate pressures caused by the influx of refugee claimants coming across the Canada-U.S. border at unofficial entry points. The national president of the Customs and Immigration Union, says this will lead to delays at major airports like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver as well as land ports like Windsor and Niagara Falls, due to CBSA staff shortages.
The RCMP intercepted 7,612 refugee claimants between January and April this year — more than the number who crossed the border irregularly in the same period last year — and officials are preparing for a spike over the warm summer months.
The diverted CBSA officers will be stationed in Québec from May 28 to Sept. 16.
— with files from The Canadian Press