Poilievre calls on Trudeau to reimpose visa requirements on Mexico as asylum claims soar

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is demanding that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau bring back a visa requirement for Mexican nationals as asylum claims from that country continue to multiply.

In 2016, the Liberal government lifted the visa requirement, which was imposed by the previous Conservative government. Instead, the government cleared Mexican nationals to visit Canada by simply acquiring a $7 electronic travel authorization.

Trudeau announced the termination of the visa requirement as part of a suite of new measures meant to reset Canada's relationship with Mexico following a two-day state visit by then-Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto.

«This move will make it easier for our Mexican friends to visit Canada, while growing our local economies and strengthening our communities,» Trudeau said in 2016.

Annual data published by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRBC) now shows that asylum claims by Mexicans began climbing almost immediately after the visa requirement was lifted. In 2016, 250 such claims were referred to the IRBC. That number hit 17,490 in 2023.

«Conservatives are calling on the Trudeau Government to reintroduce the visa requirement in order to prevent further abuse of the asylum system, which strains resources that should be helping those with legitimate asylum claims,» Poilievre said in a media statement released Wednesday.

He said the removal of the visa requirement led to an increase in fraud and abuse of Canada's asylum system, causing long processing delays for «legitimate asylum seekers.»

Last weekend, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in an interview with that the government is looking at options to address the uptick in asylum claims from Mexico, including reimposing visa