Quebec housing asylum seekers in Olympic Stadium, dealing with 150 requests a day

Quebec’s immigration minister says the number of people seeking asylum in the province has tripled in the last two weeks.

READ MORE: With spike in asylum seekers, Montreal’s Olympic Stadium to be used as shelter

Kathleen Weil says there were roughly 50 requests a day between July 1 and July 19 but that the number has since surged to 150 a day.

Weil told a news conference in Montreal Thursday morning the spike is putting a lot of pressure on accommodation resources.

READ MORE: Increase of asylum claims in Canada means wait times could hit over 11 years, cost $2.97B

Her comments came a day after asylum seekers began arriving at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium where they will stay on a temporary basis.

WATCH BELOW: Asylum seekers are heading to Montreal

1:37 Olympic Stadium opens doors to asylum seekers

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• Syrian family rescued in Quebec after crossing US border
• Tony Clement asks Liberals to regain control of Canadian borders

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Many of those arriving were of Haitian descent.

READ MORE: Number of asylum seekers continues to rise, especially in Quebec

In the United States, the Trump administration is considering ending a program that granted Haitians so-called “temporary protected status” following the massive earthquake that struck in 2010.