New deal with U.S. allows Canada to turn back migrants at the border

Ottawa has negotiated a border deal with the United States that would allow Canada to turn back migrants coming from the U.S. who are looking to make asylum claims at unofficial points of entry such as Roxham Road.

The deal would apply the Safe Third Country Agreement (new window) (STCA) across the entire Canada-United States border. It would close a loophole which allowed migrants arriving in Canada from the United States between official ports of entry to make asylum claims. Canadian authorities patrolling the border are now able to turn asylum seekers back to the United States.

The agreement, which came into force in 2004, stipulates that asylum seekers must make their claims in the first safe country they reach.

The deal also allows American authorities to turn back asylum seekers travelling to the United States from Canada.

To address irregular migration, we are expanding the Safe Third Country Agreement to apply not only at designated ports of entry, but across the entire land border, including internal waterways, ensuring fairness and more orderly migration between our two countries, a release from the Prime Minister's Office says.

The change is set to take effect on Saturday at 12:01 a.m.

• Closing Roxham Road will lead to 'humanitarian catastrophes,' immigration experts warn (new window)

• CBC EXPLAINSWhat is the Safe Third Country agreement? (new window)

Canada has agreed to accept 15,000 migrants from the Western Hemisphere through official channels as part of the deal.

The news comes during Joe Biden's first official visit to Canada as U.S. president.

Biden mentioned the change in his address Friday to a joint session of Parliament. He thanked Canada for agreeing to take in the 15,000 migrants.

The United States and Canada will work together to discourage unlawful border crossings and fully implement the updated Safe Third Country Agreement, Biden said to applause from the assembled parliamentarians.

• Watch and listen to U.S. President Joe Biden's first official visit to Canada on CBC News: Special live coverage starts Friday at 1 p.m. ET on CBC TV, CBC News Network, CBC Gem (new window), the CBC News App and YouTube (new window), and at 1:30 p.m. ET on CBC Radio (new window) and the CBC Listen app.

A document (new window) from the United States Department of Homeland Security on the deal said any migrants arriving between official ports of entry will have 14 days after crossing the border to make an asylum or other protection claim relating to a fear of persecution or torture.

Canadian law requires that travellers to Canada arrive in the country at an official port of entry, but asylum seekers who come to Canada illegally can legally make a claim, and are not charged or prosecuted while their asylum claims are processed.

The loophole became a source of tension between Canada and the United States due to a spike in migrants arriving in Canada via Roxham Road. The road, about 50 km south of Montreal, runs from Quebec to New York State. Of 39,540 asylum seekers arriving in Canada illegally by land last year, 39,171 came to Quebec, according to government data (new window). 

In a letter to the prime minister earlier this year, Quebec Premier François Legault said (new window) the number of asylum seekers was putting a strain on his province's social services. He urged the prime minister to close Roxham Road, as did Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre (new window).

Trudeau said in response that the only way to close Roxham Road is to renegotiate the STCA (new window). Trudeau said his ministers were working hard to get a deal done.

Experts told CBC News (new window) they fear the closure of Roxham Road could violate Canada's international obligations and result in deaths as asylum seekers look for other, more dangerous ways to cross the border.

Richard Raycraft With files from Alex Panetta