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Ottawa to pay over $400K to Roxham Road residents over irregular border crossings

A family from Haiti approach a tent in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec, stationed by Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as they haul their luggage down Roxham Road in Champlain, N.Y., Monday, Aug. 7, 2017.
A family from Haiti approach a tent in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec, stationed by Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as they haul their luggage down Roxham Road in Champlain, N.Y., Monday, Aug. 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Quebecers living near the Canada-United States border, where thousands of migrants have crossed irregularly into the country since 2017, will receive more than $400,000 to compensate them for increased traffic and noise.

An order paper tabled by the federal government last month projects 45 households near Roxham Road will divide up $405,000, with individual compensation based on each home’s proximity to the border.

READ MORE: Quebec says Ottawa owes it $300 million for costs related to influx of asylum seekers

The document says eight homes will receive the maximum compensation of $25,000, 15 will receive $10,000, and 22 households in the outermost zone will receive $2,500.

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The government has budgeted up to $485,000 for the payments, which includes a contingency fund in case more households are deemed eligible.

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Roughly 96 per cent of all migrants who have crossed illegally into Canada since 2017 have done so at Roxham Road, about 50 kilometres south of Montreal.

READ MORE: U.S. inches closer to allowing talks to amend Safe Third Country Agreement

A spokesperson for Border Security Minister Bill Blair says households along the once-quiet country road have had to contend with increased traffic, noise and the construction of temporary border security infrastructure since the migrants began arriving

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