A brewery owner in a small Quebec town near the Canada-U.S. border says the number of migrants crossing into Canada illegally through his community has surged in recent months.
Trevor Livingstone, who runs Livingstone Brewing in Franklin, Que., just a few kilometres from the border, says it’s become routine to see migrants hiding in fields, being detained by RCMP officers, or waiting to be picked up by suspected smugglers.
“It became a daily occurrence (in June and July). It almost didn’t faze me,” Livingstone told Global News in an interview on Friday, adding that it quieted down in August.
“This year has been insane. Nonstop people crossing.”
Franklin is home to what Livingstone jokingly calls “the most southern brewery in Quebec.” But this summer, he says the town saw more than just thirsty travellers.
Livingstone says groups of migrants — many of them women and children — have ended up on his family’s property, including at his aunt and uncle’s home next to the brewery.
“One group of women knocked on the window in the middle of winter. It was about minus 20 degrees,” Livingstone said.
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The increase in irregular border crossings follows the closure of Roxham Road in 2023, which for years was the most popular unofficial entrypoint for asylum seekers entering Quebec.
Livingstone says that while the route is now closed, migrants continue to find other ways in — but without any formal reception system in place.
“They’re just crossing everywhere, which is unsafe for them.”
Helicopters are now a common sight in the area, and residents like Livingstone say they’ve become familiar with many of the RCMP officers regularly patrolling local roads.
“It’s very common to see officers picking people up on the side of the road, people hiding in the bush, or vehicles waiting to pick them up,” he said.
Photos and videos shared with Global News by residents who declined to appear on camera show migrants walking through the woods as far back as last winter.
Livingstone says while the influx can be overwhelming, he sympathizes with those crossing the border.
“I understand people are coming for a better life,” he said.
The issue has become more complex amid shifting immigration policies in the United States. Frantz André, a spokesperson for the Action Committee for People Without Status, said many migrants — including Haitians — are afraid of what might happen if they stay in the U.S.
“They’re scared, because Donald Trump is out of control and unpredictable,” André said.
Trump’s efforts to end immigration protections for Haitian nationals fleeing political chaos were blocked by a U.S. judge earlier this summer, but the current protections are set to expire in February, leaving many uncertain about their future.
André expects the number of people attempting to cross irregularly could spike again as winter approaches. “Let’s wait to see,” André said. “That’s going to be terrible.”
In a statement sent to Global News, the RCMP said, “Securing Canada’s borders is the shared responsibility of the RCMP, the CBSA and IRCC, through enforcement at and between ports of entry from inbound and outbound criminal threats, as well as the processing of immigration applications and asylum claims.”
According to the Canada Border Services Agency, nearly 7,000 people applied for asylum at the official Lacolle border crossing between June and August this year. That figure is more than triple the number of claims during the same period last year.
In July, at least a dozen irregular migrants were injured in a crash near Hemmingford, Que. And last month, RCMP intercepted a truck carrying 44 migrants in Stanstead. Three men are facing charges in connection with that incident.
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