Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada projects that, throughout 2022, a potentially record-setting 50,000 asylum-seekers will have crossed irregularly into Canada, bypassing points of entry at the border to file a refugee claim. Following migratory trends observed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the last five years, 95% of these irregular refugees will have crossed at Roxham Road, into the province of Quebec. Not only is the situation at Roxham Road highlighting the need for a modernized approach to responsibility sharing at the border, but it also confronts Canadians to the vulnerability inherent to international humanitarian migration, in a very tangible way.

This report examines the impacts of Canadian legislation, related administrative processes, and the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) on the conditions that refugee claimants face to seek protection in Canada, specifically for those who cross at Roxham Road. It follows a study by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration on the conditions faced by asylum-seekers conducted from 15 November 2022 to 25 November 2022.

The report is broken down in three chapters: Chapter 1 examines Canada’s role and legal obligations towards migrants seeking protection from persecution, explains the genesis of the STCA and implications of this bilateral agreement with the U.S., and details the roles played by Canadian governmental bodies in processing migrants that cross at Roxham Road. Chapter 2 paints a portrait of the situation at Roxham Road statistically, details the trauma inherent to irregular migration, discusses the merits and consequences of suspending the STCA, the potential changes and modernization plans that could be brought to expand the STCA, and questions whether the U.S. is a safe country for refugee claimants. Chapter 3 studies the current challenges and solutions being implemented to deal with the situation at Roxham Road, notably the turn towards technological solutions, the consequences of administrative backlogs on the delivery of key documentation for asylum-seekers, and the accessibility of social services in the province of Québec. The chapter concludes with stories of success despite hardships faced by migrants.