The number of international students applying for asylum in Canada appeared to shoot up dramatically in 2023, government figures show — and is on track to be even higher this year.
It comes after Immigration Minister Marc Miller called the increase an “alarming trend.”
Data provided to Global News by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada shows a breakdown of asylum applications from people on study permits from 2018 to 2023.
In 2023, a total of 13,075 students with study permits made asylum claims. That number was more than double the 5,290 seen in 2022.
In 2018, that number sat at 2,230. That number rose to 4,040 in 2019, before falling to 3,065 in 2020 and then rising slightly to 3,425 in 2021.
Last week on The West Block, Miller told Mercedes Stephenson that those claimants are using the international student program as a “backdoor entry into Canada,” often to lower their tuition fees. Miller called on post-secondary institutions to improve their screening and monitoring practices.
“There’s a growing number, Mercedes, and it’s frankly quite alarming given the volumes of people that come to this country, in theory, with the proper financial capacity to live and to pay their tuition fees, which are four times what Canadians pay,” the minister said.
This year, the highest number of claims came in August with 1,785 claimants on student visas or study permit extensions applying for refugee status in Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday Canada had a moral obligation to offer asylum to those fleeing violence and persecution, but to ensure the system wasn’t being misused.
“Our capacity to do that means we need to properly be able to identify who needs (the) most help, who is there as a true asylum seeker… Other people using the asylum path as a shortcut to gain Canadian permanent residency or citizenship is something that we need to continue to push back against,” Trudeau told reporters at the United Nations.
A spokesperson for IRCC told Global News in a statement that the growing number of conflicts and crises has led to an increase in asylum claims and that applications fluctuate every month for various reasons.
“Under the law, anyone seeking asylum in Canada is entitled to fair treatment,” the spokesperson wrote. “However, there is no guarantee that a claimant will be allowed to stay in Canada. Each claim for asylum is decided individually, according to the evidence and arguments presented, and in compliance with Canadian immigration laws.”
Miller told Global News that his department was studying the issue of international students making asylum claims and suggested further reforms to the program were being explored.
—with files from Global News’ Uday Rana, Marc-Andre Cossette and Mercedes Stephenson