Canada Border Services officers walk past customs booths at the Highway 55 Port of Entry in Stanstead, Que., March, 2025.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Asylum seekers who crossed the border from the United States irregularly and claimed asylum are being ordered by the immigration department to leave Canada as soon as possible or face being deported, after the passing of a new law tightening up asylum rules.
Immigration lawyers have expressed fears that many foreign nationals receiving warning letters from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will now cross back into the U.S. and be detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and deported.
The immigration lawyers are also raising concerns that the letters don’t adequately inform asylum seekers that they may be eligible to remain in the country despite the new restrictions. The new law limits who can receive a hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, or IRB, potentially putting many asylum seekers on a fast-track to deportation.
The IRCC warning letters were sent to refugee claimants within days of the new law, known as Bill C-12, receiving royal assent last month.
The recipients include asylum claimants from Iran, whom Canada currently has a policy of not deporting because of the dangerous situation there.
Immigration officers don’t have latitude to probe refugee claims, experts say
The letters were sent to people who crossed the U.S. border irregularly and claimed asylum in Canada after June 3, 2025.
Before the new law went into effect, such asylum seekers were allowed hearings at the IRB if they had been in the country for at least 14 days before making a claim. Otherwise, under a U.S.-Canada pact known as the Safe Third Country Agreement, they were subject to being returned to the U.S.
Bill C-12 removed the 14-day exception, which had been criticized by Bloc Québécois MPs for providing what they characterized as a loophole incentivizing human traffickers to smuggle people into the province.
The letters warned asylum seekers their claims for refugee protection are no longer eligible for IRB hearings.
Under the heading “next steps,” the letters – which The Globe and Mail has seen – state: “You must leave Canada as soon as possible and confirm your departure with the Canada Border Services Agency. If you do not leave Canada, a deportation order may be issued against you.”
Toronto immigration lawyer Joycna Kang, who is a director of the Canadian Immigration Lawyers’ Association, said "many people receiving these letters will believe they must leave the country immediately, and that they have no other recourse available to them."
Canadian mother and seven-year-old daughter released from ICE detention in Texas
She said she was concerned that people will be detained by ICE upon re-entering the U.S. “and end up being deported to countries that Canada has actively stopped removals to, in line with our international obligations.
“The fear is that these letters will result in many people who have a genuine fear of persecution falling through the cracks and not having that fear or risk assessed before being removed,” she said in an e-mail.
The letters state that before deportation asylum claimants may be eligible to apply for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment by an immigration officer. The PRRA determines if they would face danger, such as torture or persecution for religious beliefs, if sent back and therefore should stay in Canada.
Immigration lawyer Stéfanie Morris, of Community Legal Services of Ottawa, said the letters were causing “significant panic and confusion” among asylum claimants who have been waiting for their cases to be heard.
Ms. Morris said she’s among the lawyers with clients from Iran, Yemen and Gaza, who received the letters telling them to leave the country as soon as possible. She said they were sent “despite the fact that Canada cannot remove people to these countries in the vast majority of cases.”
“The content of these letters is particularly misleading for people from certain countries. For instance, nationals from countries like Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, etc. cannot be removed from Canada due to moratoriums on removal. Yet these nationals are still receiving letters stating that they will face removal from Canada or that they should leave Canada as soon as possible,” she said in an e-mail.
Refugee tribunal ruled on more than 45,000 cases since 2019 without in-person hearings
Ms. Morris predicted that some people receiving such letters who have lawyers would seek a judicial review at federal court. But she said others without lawyers may feel pressured to leave the country as instructed, even if they have a right to stay here.
She said the letters “include the shocking and false statement that claimants must leave Canada as soon as possible. This is deeply misleading and is causing significant panic and confusion.“
She added that the letters mentioning a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment lack information about the process.
The bill also bars foreign nationals who had been in Canada for more than a year from an asylum hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board. This new rule applied to asylum claimants who entered Canada after June 24, 2020.
Scores of asylum seekers who made their claim more than a year after entering Canada have also received letters in the past few weeks saying they are no longer eligible to have their case heard by the IRB and may face deportation.
Jeffrey MacDonald, an IRCC spokesperson, said “all individuals whose claims were previously found eligible but may be affected by the new asylum eligibility rules have received or will be receiving procedural fairness letters.”
“As of January 31, 2026, an estimated 30,000 people could potentially be impacted,” he said, adding that the letters are not deportation notices.
“Individuals whose claims are not referred to the IRB continue to have access to a pre-removal risk assessment," he added in an e-mail. “This well-established process assesses each person’s circumstances and ensures Canada does not remove individuals to a country where they would face serious harm.”