Canada urged to welcome Haitians fleeing U.S. deportations as Trump ends protected status

Canada urged to welcome Haitians fleeing U.S. deportations as Trump ends protected status

Quebec refugee advocates say Canada's border rules could block asylum seekers from staying

Montreal refugee advocates say they are hearing from a growing number of Haitians in the United States who are considering coming to Canada after the Trump administration moved to end deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of people.

“They're real stressed. They don't go out. They stay in their apartment,” said Thierry Jean-Baptiste of the Bureau de la communauté haïtienne de Montréal (BCHM).

“They order groceries. They are in fear of ICE.”

This comes after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way last month for President Donald Trump's administration to strip hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian immigrants of a humanitarian status — called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) — which protects them from deportation.

The U.S. first ​provided TPS to Haitians after a major earthquake in 2010.

Now, advocates are imploring Canada to withdraw from or modify the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), which prevents some Haitians fleeing the U.S. — a designated "safe" country — from claiming asylum here.

WATCH | Haitians in the U.S. are looking to Canada for help:

Quebec advocates urge Canada to protect Haitian refugees fearing U.S. deportation

Canada deporting people by proxy, advocates say

CBC spoke to a woman who came from the U.S. to Quebec this week, and has agreed not to name her because of the uncertainty around her immigration status.

She said she came because she feared being sent back to Haiti, which is facing political and economic instability and rampant crime.

“It’s very difficult because of the insecurity. You could get raped or assaulted. And then there’s no way to get around — nothing really works,” she said.

She has an advantage. Because she has relatives here, she can file an asylum claim and potentially stay. Canada still has a humanitarian moratorium on deportations to Haiti.

But for people who come here from the U .S. seeking asylum who don’t have family in Canada, it’s a different story.

“The problem is that under the Safe Third Country Agreement, many people would then be pushed back to the United States,” said Julia Sande, Amnesty International Canada lawyer.

Canada has this legal obligation to not send people to either directly or indirectly to face torture or persecution, she said.

By deporting Haitians back to the U.S., knowing they will be sent to their home country, “it's a violation of Canada's legal obligations. And so they know what's happening in the U.S. They know our systems are different and yet they're still pushing people back there,” she said.

Canada is essentially deporting asylum seekers to Haiti by proxy, according to Frantz André, an advocate for asylum seekers. He said that makes Canada complicit in a humanitarian crisis.

Haitians in the U.S. brace for deportation as Trump ends their protected status

He said Canada should opt out of the STCA and welcome Haitians coming from the U.S. Otherwise, he said, Canada is effectively doing Trump's bidding — much as a "51st state" would — a reference to the president's repeated suggestions that Canada should join the U.S.

"Canada has the opportunity to show that we are a country, not a state, and we have the opportunity to show that humanity is still alive in our country,” he said.

Push to let Haitians who’ve lost status in U.S. into Canada

Canada advises to avoid all travel to Haiti due to gang violence, kidnappings and civil unrest. The U.S. offers its citizens a similar warning, saying “do not travel to Haiti due to the risk of crime, kidnapping, terrorism, unrest and limited health care."

STCA 'continually assessed': Immigration Department

In a statement, the federal Immigration Department said Canada has a proud humanitarian tradition and takes its international obligations regarding asylum seekers extremely seriously.

“Canada and the U.S. continue to apply the Safe Third Country Agreement to manage asylum claims at our shared border. The factors that were considered in designation as a safe third country are continually assessed,” the statement said.

Supreme Court says Trump administration can end legal protections for many U.S. residents from Haiti, Syria

According to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) statistics, Haitians accounted for the highest number of asylum claimants processed at Canadian land border ports of entry in 2026 as of July 26.

The CBSA said it continues to monitor refugee claim volumes at the border but that current numbers have not triggered any contingency plans. The agency said it would not speculate on external factors that could influence asylum claims, including foreign government policies.

The agency also reiterated that asylum seekers arriving from the U.S. who do not qualify for an exception under the STCA are generally found ineligible to make a refugee claim in Canada and are returned to the U.S. as soon as possible.

CBSA said 827 asylum claimants had been removed to the U.S. under the agreement as of July 27 this year.

Isaac Olson is a journalist with CBC Montreal. He worked largely as a newspaper reporter and photographer for 15 years before joining CBC in the spring of 2018.