Refugee claims to Canada on track to hit highest levels in nearly 30 years

Canada is on track to receive its highest number of refugee claims since record-keeping began nearly three decades ago, the latest data shows.That news comes as government’s handling of immigration falls increasingly under scrutiny ahead of next year’s federal election.READ MORE: So far in 2018, CBSA has deported 296 failed irregular border crossers; another 534 ready to goDespite cooler weather, the number of refugee claimants jumped past 6,000 in October, the highest monthly tally this year, the data released on Thursday showed.That takes total claims in the first 10 months of 2018 to 46,245, putting the country on track to surpass last year’s record even as the quasi-judicial body that adjudicates claims struggles to work through a 64,000-person backlog.WATCH BELOW: Video shows newcomer children experiencing first Canadian snowfall in Toronto The Immigration and Refugee Board started tracking refugee claimant data in 1989.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government faces a widely held belief that Canada has been overwhelmed by immigrants pressing asylum claims, even though it receives far fewer than many other countries.READ MORE: Is Canada facing an asylum seeker ‘crisis?’The government has struggled to balance Canada’s reputation as a haven for those fleeing persecution with warnings that filing refugee claims is no “free ticket” to remain in the country.The governing Liberals have come under fire for their handling of the more than 37,000 people who have walked across the Canada-U.S. border seeking asylum since January 2017.Many of those people told Reuters they did not feel safe in President Donald Trump’s United States.WATCH BELOW: Exclusive look at Toronto’s ‘refugee hotel’ About 1,400 crossed the frontier in October, down from 1,600 the month before.But most refugee claimants enter the country by other means, and their numbers are growing.READ MORE: More than half of Quebec asylum seekers had some kind of ‘legal status’ in U.S. before crossing to Canada“There are 65 million refugees in the world, and there are many desperate people trying to find safety and refuge in western countries,” said Toronto-based lawyer Lorne Waldman.

“I think we’re going to see 50,000-plus (refugee claims annually) for the foreseeable future.”

A spokesman for Immigration and Refugees Minister Ahmed Hussen noted that this year’s budget included an additional $74 million for the Immigration and Refugee Board “to speed up the processing of asylum claims.”The hiring of 248 new staff “is under way,” spokesman Mathieu Genest wrote in an email.WATCH BELOW: UNHCR calls for more countries to admit refugees after U.S. says it will slash its intake number About 56 per cent of refugee claims finalized in the first three quarters of 2018 were accepted, according to the Immigration and Refugee Board, with lower acceptance rates for border-crossers.Border-crossers from Nigeria and Haiti, who made up the largest groups of border-crossers, had relatively low acceptance rates compared with other nationalities, at 29.3 per cent and 11.6 per cent, respectively.Canada’s government is trying to hasten the deportations of border-crossers whose refugee claims are not successful, classifying them with criminals as a top deportation priority.The government should also prioritize integration of successful applicants, said Canadian Council for Refugees head Janet Dench, and ensure that tens of thousands of people are not left waiting years for permanent resident status.“The longer you keep people in this limbo state, the longer before they can contribute fully to Canadian society.”