The federal government is preparing for the possibility of another surge in asylum seekers at the Canada-U.S. border in Quebec with Donald Trump taking office, and is looking to rent space to help with processing people who attempt to cross.
Trump has threatened to deport millions of undocumented immigrants as president. On Monday, Trump signed a number of executive orders that amounted to a sweeping immigration crackdown.
Canadian refugee advocates, federal government departments and immigration lawyers have said they are bracing for a potential influx.
In a call for tenders posted Wednesday, Public Services and Procurement Canada said it is looking to rent office space within 15 kilometres of the Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle border in Quebec that will “serve as an administrative centre for clients.”
The space should be “large enough and provided with the necessary equipment, facilities, and infrastructure to safely accommodate an office space, a reception area, a meal distribution area and a waiting room with a capacity for 50 to 200 people,” the listing said. It must also “allow for the circulation and parking of buses.”
In 2017, there was a surge in arrivals in the months after Trump took power for his first term in office.
Starting in the summer of that year, thousands of people crossed into Canada, primarily at Roxham Road, not far from the Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle border. Temporary processing centres were set up for those arriving.
Those buildings were dismantled in 2023, after Canada and the U.S. changed the Safe Third Country Agreement, expanding its terms to cover the entire land border rather than just formal crossings.
The changes made it so migrants could only claim asylum once in the other country if they had a close family member living there or if they’d managed to go undetected for 14 days after crossing.
‘We’re prepared for any eventuality’: immigration minister
Immigration Minister Marc Miller said earlier this week his department hasn’t seen an increase in people trying to come to Canada.
“We’re prepared for any eventuality,” Miller told Radio-Canada on Tuesday.
“People that are coming here, if they come in an irregular fashion, that is not the right way to do so and they will be turned away subject to the Safe Third Country agreement we have with the U.S.”
According to data provided by the Canada Border Services Agency, the number of asylum claims across the country has fallen sharply in recent months.
Since last September, regardless of the point of entry into Canada, whether by land or air, Canadian authorities have counted “a daily average of 109 requests, compared to a daily average of 212 requests for the same period a year ago,” a spokesperson for the agency told Radio-Canada.
The government listing is for a 12-month period starting in May 2025, with options to renew for four additional periods of three months each.
U.S. President Donald Trump kicked off his sweeping immigration crackdown on Monday, tasking the U.S. military with aiding border security, issuing a broad ban on asylum and taking steps to restrict citizenship for children born on U.S. soil.
