With Donald Trump set to return to the White House in January, Canadian government officials say they have a “plan” to ensure the country’s border security and control over who comes into the country.
Speaking Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government is focused on Canada’s border and potential impacts of what could come next.
“What’s important for Canadians is to control our own border and that is something that’s really important, it’s fundamental,” she said.
“I do want to assure Canadians that we absolutely recognize the importance of border security and of controlling our own border, of controlling who comes into Canada and who doesn’t.”
She added: “What I am expecting is that Canadians expect us to control our border. Canadians quite rightly believe that it needs to be a decision of Canada and Canadians who comes to our country and who doesn’t and that is something that we absolutely have a plan to ensure.”
In the leadup to his election victory, Trump announced a variety of policies that could have a potential impact on Canada, including a promise to deport millions of undocumented immigrants from the U.S.
That promise, experts who spoke with Global News said, could spark fearful undocumented immigrants to flee to Canada and subsequently overwhelm the border and social services in provinces and territories.
Such a surge was seen during Trump’s first term, when changes to temporary protected status for Haitians who fled to the U.S. sparked the influx of migrants claiming asylum at the Roxham Road border crossing into Quebec due to a loophole in the Safe Third Country Agreement.
That led to expansion of the Safe Third Country Agreement between the U.S. and Canada last year.
Housing Minister Sean Fraser, who previously held the immigration portfolio and negotiated the change to that agreement, told reporters the federal government had “great concerns about the integrity of the border.”
“We want to ensure that we can have responsible policies,” he said. “Those challenges exist in different contexts under different administrations.”
He stressed the need to recognize both the open trading relationship with the U.S. and importance of having a “strengthened border” which can help both countries succeed.
“Canadians want to ensure that we have integrity at the Canada-U.S. border, and frankly, at all our ports of entry,” he said. “But at the same time, we foster a culture that creates economic opportunity by embracing trade, which is, by the way, the largest and most important trading relationship that we have.”
Quebec Premier Francois Legault has warned the province “risks experiencing turbulence” in the coming months with Trump’s election, and called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take it seriously.
Canada could face steep tariffs from Trump
Trump has also proposed a blanket 10- to 20-per cent tariff on all foreign imports except goods from China, which he says will face tariffs of at least 60 per cent.
Asked about the potential impact, Freeland said the government has a plan, but added there was importance in maintaining its relationship with its southern neighbour.
That relationship, she said, has led to “win-win” outcomes like the Canada U.S. Mexico trade agreement (CUSMA), but when it comes to the labour market the two countries see something “mutually beneficial.”
“We build things together, and Canadian workers do not undercut U.S. workers,” she said. “We have similar labour and environmental standards, and we are both high-wage countries.
“These fundamentals are really, really important and are the basis of the good relationship we have in the past and the good relationship that we will maintain and build into the future.”
Even though the federal government says they’re prepared, Desjardins chief economist Jimmy Jean told Global News recently Trump’s potential second term in office would be “much more disruptive” than what a Kamala Harris regime could have seen, and could even lead to a recession in Canada.
— with files from Global News’ Sean Boynton and Kalina Laframboise