About 180,000 illegal immigrants and asylum seekers in Canada are asking to stay in the country, causing long wait times, according to information from a Senate committee hearing.
“Thousands of claimants are facing long wait times at multiple points in the process,” said Jason Hollmann, director general of asylum policy at the immigration department, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
Mr. Hollmann made the comments at a Senate social affairs committee on May 23, saying that asylum decisions can take years.
“What does the backlog stand at today?” Senator Ratna Omidvar asked.
Mr. Hollman said that claim volumes had been “growing.”
“Last year, Canada received 144,000 asylum claims,” said Mr. Hollmann. “The inventory, in terms of the initial eligibility determination, is around 34,000.”
“Although it falls under the Immigration and Refugee Board, my understanding is their inventory for decision is around 180,000,” he added.
The costs of housing and supporting asylum seekers who have illegally entered the country have been in the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to government data.
“Typically, the role of the federal government has been to ensure that claimants receive interim federal health benefits, that we provide access to legal aid, and we provide work permits so claimants can support themselves while their claim is pending,” said Mr. Hollmann. “The other support services are traditionally offered by other jurisdictions. The government has been providing interim housing support since 2017.”
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) gave $2 billion to refugees and asylum seekers in 2023, the release says.
IRCC Minister Marc Miller has already announced an additional $362.4 million for the Interim Housing Assistance Program for the 2023–2024 fiscal period in the government release.
It also noted that a record 8.3 million people were landed immigrants or permanent residents in 2021, topping the previous record in 1921.
