Stats Canada has released a report about asylum claims / refugee claims in Canada.
Asylum claimants are individuals who request refugee protection upon or after arrival in Canada. Asylum claims can be received at a port of entry, at a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) inland office or an Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) inland office. Claims are then referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). While their claims are being considered, these individuals are considered non-permanent residents in Canada.
Asylum claimants whose claims are accepted can become permanent residents. For more information on this process, please refer to the IRCC website: Backgrounder: Claiming asylum in Canada – what happens?
The number of asylum claimants has fluctuated over the years with previous observed peaks in 2008 (about 37,000) and 2001 (about 44,000).The number of asylum claimants more than tripled since 2015, increasing from about 16,000 in 2015 to over 50,000 in 2017.
The number of claimants has increased since the beginning of 2017, from 2,629 in January 2017 to 5,118 in December 2018.
