OTTAWA — A decision by the Trump administration to yank protected status for thousands of Haitians doesn't appear to have prompted a new surge of asylum seekers at the Canada-U.S. border.
Data published Tuesday by the federal government show the RCMP stopped 1,623 people in November, down from 1,890 in October.
The figures represent a marked drop from August, when the RCMP stopped over 5,000 people in Quebec alone as they crossed into Canada to seek asylum.
Many were believed to be propelled north by an impending change to U.S. immigration policy that would see the resumption of deportations to Haiti, following a pause instituted after the 2010 earthquake.
The U.S. formally announced in November that temporary protected status for Haitians would be lifted in 2019, but Canadian officials had expressed hope a new surge of asylum seekers wouldn't materialize.
Since the summer spike, Canadian officials embarked on a massive outreach effort in the U.S. to dispel myths about the Canadian asylum system and said those efforts were bearing fruit.
But they've also said they remain on guard against the potential for future waves of would-be refugees and are ready to spool up a response in short order should one materialize.
The data released Tuesday suggest that, overall, asylum claims filed in Canada dropped slightly last month.
Canada Border Services Agency and the Immigration Department reported processing just over 4,000 requests, down from 4,760 in October.
In total, the two agencies have now processed over 45,000 asylum claims this year — more than double the number of claims they dealt with last year.
Once those claims are processed, they're referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board for a hearing.
The board is grappling with a volume of cases not seen in nearly 10 years and has implemented several measures designed to speed up the process and avoid growing backlogs.
But many of those decisions were taken by chairperson Mario Dion, who is now the Liberal government's choice to replace outgoing ethics commissioner Mary Dawson, leaving his position at the IRB vacant.
An interim chairperson is expected to be named in the new year.
