Quebec will be reimbursed for all costs related to influx of asylum-seekers
Federal government has agreed to pay $250M to the province to cover expenses
Quebec is set to receive $250 million from the federal government in order to cover the costs associated with the thousands of asylum seekers who arrived in the province at illegal points of entry over the last two years.
Quebec Immigration Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette said that this sum represents a "complete reimbursement" for expenses incurred in 2017 and 2018.
According to the federal government, Quebec received more than 90 per cent of all the asylum seekers who crossed the U.S. border into Canada during this period.
Many of these asylum seekers came through via Roxham Road, in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle.
The government has also committed to covering costs related to asylum seekers who arrive in the province throughout 2019, once those numbers are tabulated.
In a release, the government cited the "extraordinary efforts" of Quebec in taking in asylum seekers who were in need of shelter and access to social services.
In 2017, more than 18,800 asylum seekers were recorded entering at unlawful border crossings in the province, compared with 18,500 in 2018 and 8,300 in 2019.
Translated from a report by La Presse Canadienne