• Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says Canada is “ready” for a possible mass exodus of undocumented immigrants from the US, towards Canada, following Donald Trump’s election win

• Trump has promised mass deportations, and to cut off welfare for undocumented migrants

• Joly says she has a plan, but first needs to talk to the Trump administration

Liberal Foreign Affairs Minister said she has a plan to deal with the potential mass exodus of illegal migrants from the US into Canada, but won’t say what the plan is.

US President-elect Donald Trump ran on a campaign that promised “mass deportations” of illegal migrants, and since being elected, he pledged to stop providing welfare to them.

Asked about the potential that many undocumented immigrants in the US could seek refuge in Canada—potentially millions of them—Minister Joly said Canada is “ready,” but wouldn’t say what specific actions her government plans to take other than “first have conversations with the Trump administration.” 

“How are you ready?” asked the CBC reporter.

“I won’t give you the entire plan right now as you are asking me the question because I think we need to first have conversations with the Trump administration, we need to understand their concerns, we need to understand their plan…” the Minister replied.

“That’s why we have diplomacy,” she added.

Joly continued, stating that part of her plan is to “work through the [Canadian Border Services Agency].”

The Minister also said that the US-Canada border is “extremely well-guarded because it’s the longest and safest border in the world.” 

“Our borders are well-guarded,” she added.

Buses on route

Meanwhile, it’s already being reported by Viral News NYC that buses of illegal US migrants are already on route from the US to Canada.

Last year, the Counter Signal captured buses full of illegal migrants crossing the Roxham Road point of entry, before pressure led to the feds shutting it down. Near the end of 2023, the IRCC documented an all-time high of 42,387 pending refugee claims by irregular border crossers, meaning an individual who illegally entered Canada without an asylum claim. 

Since shutting down Roxham Road, asylum claims in Canada remain extremely high. Now, most asylum claimants make their request immediately after flying into Canada on a visitor, work, or student visa — or just before their visa expires.

$224 per day per claimant

As reported earlier this year, Ottawa allocates roughly $224 per day (or $81,760 per year) per claimant for asylum claimants to receive housing, food, and “essential items.” Amid the uptick, Liberal Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced in January that he was committing another $362 million towards temporary housing (hotels) for them.

In Niagara alone, between February 2023 and January 2024, the feds spent more than $100 million taxpayer dollars on 4,896 asylum seekers.

Millions living in US

In 2022, the Pew Research Center estimated about 10.5 million undocumented migrants live in the US. However, since the Biden-Harris administration took office in 2021, about eight million undocumented immigrants have entered the US. Some estimates suggest as many as thirty million illegal immigrants currently live in the US.