The federal public safety minister says fewer than 10 asylum seekers have been turned back to the U.S. since the historic shutdown of the border.
Bill Blair provided the figure to the House of Commons today, noting it has been almost a month since the Canada-U.S. border closed to all but non-essential travel to help curb the spread of COVID-19. [ Sign up for our Health IQ newsletter for the latest coronavirus updates ] The deal struck by the two countries included a provision that those crossing between formal border points in order to seek asylum would also be turned back.
Figures published today by the Immigration Department suggest, however, that the flow of people prior to that remained relatively steady.