Canada’s refugee policy could gain renewed attention amid U.S. deportations

Back in 2015, the Syrian refugee crisis dominated the final stretch of the federal election as party leaders debated Canada’s approach to asylum seekers.

Not this year.

With the 2025 federal election consumed by economic angst over U.S. tariffs, Canada’s refugee policy has largely faded from the spotlight. But a recent increase in asylum seekers at a Quebec border crossing could bring the issue back into focus — one that will extend far beyond the campaign trail.

Whoever becomes the next prime minister will inherit a world in turmoil — from Ukraine to Gaza — and a country of sprawling diasporic communities with ties to displaced populations abroad. Even the current trade war has roots in U.S. President Donald Trump’s overblown rhetoric about a porous border and migration.

A sombre tone on asylum seekers

The two frontrunners in the race have weighed in on the issue of asylum seekers.

During a recent campaign stop, Liberal Party Leader Mark Carney blamed the U.S. for the recent surge of asylum seekers in Quebec.

“It’s not acceptable for the United States to send us all their asylum seekers,” Carney told reporters in Delta, B.C., on April 8. He added that Canada could return asylum seekers to the U.S. under a bilateral border pact.

Meanwhile, on the same day, Conservative Leader Poilievre condemned what he described as bogus asylum claims and accused the Liberals of enabling a “massive fraud” in a “broken immigration system.”

“I’m in favour of legal immigration. When people arrive here in Canada, if they are asylum seekers, they have to show that they are real asylum seekers,” Poilievre said in response to a reporter question in Alberta. “If they are a fraudster, they will have to go.”

A shifting landscape

The leaders’ somber tone reflects shifting trends in Canada — and globally.

By mid-2024, more than 122 million people — roughly three times Canada’s population — had been displaced worldwide due to regional conflicts and wars, U.N. data shows. Nearly seven million were asylum seekers.

Many found their way to Canada. Last year, Ottawa approved 46,480 asylum claims — up more than 200 per cent from 2018, the year Canada took in more refugees than any other country.

Although Canada’s overall asylum claims have so far declined in 2025 compared to the same period last year, a border crossing in Quebec recently experienced a jump in asylum claimants. This follows the Trump administration’s decision in March to revoke temporary legal status for tens of thousands of Venezuelans and Haitians. Quebec’s immigration minister has recently warned that the province is at capacity to accommodate asylum seekers.

The mood is a far cry from nearly a decade ago, when a beaming Justin Trudeau greeted newly arrived refugees at Toronto Pearson Airport — a moment that came to symbolize Canada’s openness. Two years later, he echoed that sentiment in a widely shared tweet, posted the same day a Muslim travel ban in the U.S. took effect.

Today, cracks are beginning to show in that feel-good narrative.

A 2024 Environics Institute poll revealed a shift in public opinion, with 43 per cent of respondents — particularly in Ontario and the Prairies — expressing skepticism about the legitimacy of refugee claims. That marked a 7-point increase over a year prior. This shift coincided with heightened media scrutiny over a surge in asylum claims filed by international students last year, which then-immigration minister Marc Miller called an “alarming trend.”

Is the backlash an overreaction?

But in the eyes of Yvonne Su, director of the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University, waning support for asylum seekers could easily tip into overreaction.

“We only want to hear positive refugee stories. On the flip side, when we get upset, we say we’re getting too many refugees,” Su said in an interview with CTVNews.ca.

She highlighted the media’s role in shaping public perception, noting that its portrayal of asylum seekers sometimes crosses the line. Su singled out two recent headlines she found particularly troubling. One warned of a possible “tsunami of illegal migrants,” and the other depicted Canadian border towns “bursting at the seams.”

To her, such language isn’t just exaggerated — it’s deeply disrespectful.

The complex reality of seeking asylum

Experts say making sense of the asylum process — a labyrinth of legal procedures and bureaucracy — is not easy.

“Most people don’t understand how the system works and how complex it is,” said Nicholas Fraser, a senior research associate at Toronto Metropolitan University, who has studied immigration and refugee issues for years.

That complexity is underscored by the sheer number of players involved.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), for example, sets out refugee rules. The Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), an independent tribunal, adjudicates claims and hears appeals on claim decisions. Some asylum seekers get resettled here through a government-assisted program; others come via sponsorships by private Canadian citizens. Legal aid organizations and NGOs also step in to offer crucial services and support programs.

“Imagine if you’re a refugee who doesn’t speak the language and understand immigration law. You’re in a new place while trying to navigate the process and your psychological trauma,” Fraser said. “Refugees are vulnerable people, and the asylum policy is fundamentally designed to ensure those people have a place to go so they can escape dangerous situations.”

A long tradition

Canada’s history of receiving refugees predates Confederation.

In the late 1700s, United Empire Loyalists sought refuge from the upheaval of the American revolution, resettling in what is now Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Ontario.

Over the centuries, Canada has welcomed successive waves of refugees, yet the selection was often influenced by racial considerations, said Robert Vineberg, former director general of Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Prairies and Northern Territories.

“The government believed it was easy to assimilate Hungarians or Czechs,” he said, referencing Canada’s acceptance of refugees from Eastern Europe.

“It wasn’t until the 1970s with the expulsion of Asians from Uganda that Canada accepted a significant number of non-white refugees,” Vineberg explained. Shortly after, Canada resettled thousands of Vietnamese refugees following the fall of Saigon.

Many refugees, Vineberg said, have helped shape Canada’s social fabric, fostering the mosaic society that defines the nation today.

“It’s a part of who we are. We’re a generous society,” he said. “And when there’s a crisis in the world, we want to step up.”