Quebec leader urges Trudeau to stem refugee inflow as services near 'breaking point'

By Steve Scherer and Ismail Shakil

OTTAWA (Reuters) -Quebec Premier Francois Legault urged Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to stem the flow of refugees into the province and to compensate it for costs, claiming Quebec's services were close to a "breaking point" due to the rising number.

The influx has led to overflowing schools, worsened housing scarcity, and packed homeless shelters, Legault said in a letter to Trudeau on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, we are close to the breaking point because of the excessive number of asylum seekers arriving in Quebec month after month," the center-right nationalist added. "The situation has become unbearable."

Nearly 60,000 new asylum seekers were recorded in Quebec in the first 11 months of 2023 and another 65,000 are expected in 2024, Legault said. "On a per capita basis, Quebec has accepted three times as many asylum seekers as the rest of Canada."

Canada struck a deal with the United States last year to stem the flow of asylum seekers entering from the U.S. through unofficial border crossings, like the Roxham Road crossing into Quebec from New York state. That crossing was closed.

However, five months after the deal, the overall number of people filing refugee claims in Canada had increased, Reuters reported.

"The organizations that host and support asylum seekers are no longer sufficient to the task and are requesting assistance as was the case last year at the height of the Roxham Road crisis," Legault said.

The Trudeau-led Liberal government in Ottawa is coming under pressure for its immigration policies because they have exacerbated a housing crunch, and because some services provided by the provinces, like education and healthcare, are struggling to keep up with population growth.

Trudeau's popularity has slumped in recent months amid complaints about housing affordability and the high cost of living. Trudeau, who represents a Quebec constituency in the House of Commons, is trailing Opposition Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre in opinion polls.

The closing of the Roxham Road crossing momentarily slowed the flow of asylum seekers in Quebec, Legault said, but arrivals from other countries continued to grow in airports.

The predominantly French-speaking province is historically sensitive on the issue of immigration, with nationalists and separatists often pushing for measures to protect local culture and pressure immigrants and their children to learn French.

Canada's Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, commenting on Legault's letter, said Ottawa was committed to working with the Quebec government "to find solutions to the challenges posed by the significant number of asylum seekers."

"We are taking the most recent financial request from the Quebec government very seriously," LeBlanc said in a statement.

Legault has asked Trudeau to tighten Canada's visa policy, reimburse the province for the costs incurred to welcome asylum seekers, and "fairly apportion asylum seekers throughout Canada."

Quebec, Canada's second-most populous province, expects Ottawa to reimburse the C$470 million ($348.30 million) in costs for 2021 and 2022, Legault said.

($1 = 1.3494 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Paul Simao and Marguerita Choy)