OTTAWA, Ontario (AFP) — Canada announced Thursday the immediate reimposition of visas for visiting Mexican nationals in response to a recent jump in asylum claims from the country.
"Mexican citizens will have to obtain a visa to come to Canada from now on," Immigration Minister Marc Miller told a news conference, explaining the need to preserve "the viability" of Canada's immigration and refugee system.
There will be some exceptions, he said. Mexican citizens traveling to Canada will be able to request a simple electronic travel authorization if they have held a Canadian visa in the last decade or if they have a valid visa for the United States.
Immigration data showed Mexicans made up 17% of all refugee claims in Canada in 2023 — spiking from just 260 claims in 2016 when a previous visa requirement was lifted, to nearly 24,000 last year. Most of the recent claims were rejected or withdrawn by the applicants.
Miller noted that some Mexican nationals have been "coming through Canada and then going to the U.S." Of course, these numbers pale in comparison to the numbers of migrants arriving at the United States' southern border, he added.
Canadian visa requirements for Mexicans had been imposed by a previous conservative government in 2009 to stem a similar uptick at that time, but the measure was lifted in 2016 by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's liberal administration.
Quebec province recently complained in a letter to Trudeau that the situation had reached a "breaking point," and demanded action to mitigate the flow of migrants.
Miller acknowledged that the Mexican government has already expressed its dissatisfaction with the new visa requirement.
"We attach great importance to our close ties with Mexico," he said. "Mexico is and will remain an important partner."
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By Agence France-Presse
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