Canada, which once billed itself as one of the world’s most welcoming countries for refugees and immigrants, is launching a global online advertising campaign warning asylum seekers that applying is difficult.
The C$250,000 ($178,662) worth of ads will run through March in 11 languages, including Spanish, Urdu, Ukrainian, Hindi and Tamil, the immigration department told Reuters. They are part of a broader change of tone by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s unpopular government on immigration and an effort to clamp down on refugee claims.
Immigrants have been blamed for high housing prices, although some experts say this is a simplistic explanation, and polls show a growing number of Canadians think the country is taking in too many newcomers.
The four-month campaign is budgeted to cost one-third of the total spending on similar ads over the previous seven years.
Search queries such as “how to apply for asylum in Canada” and “refugee from Canada” will generate sponsored content titled “Canada’s asylum system – Facts about asylum,” the ministry said.
“Applying for asylum in Canada is not easy. There are strict guidelines for grading. Find out what you need to know before making a life-changing decision,” one ad reads.
Canada has long been seen as a welcoming place for newcomers. Now its leaders are cutting immigration and trying to get temporary residents to leave and prevent people fleeing US President-elect Donald Trump from seeking asylum.
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“Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is working to combat the spread of misinformation and misinformation about Canada’s immigration system, and to highlight the risks of working with unauthorized representatives,” a department spokesperson wrote in an email.
It may be an uphill battle. Canada’s refugee system faces a backlog of 260,000 cases amid growing global displacement. The government has little control over who applies for asylum.
Your Immigration Minister has hinted at the possibility of fast-tracking applications deemed unlikely to be successful. The government expects millions of people to leave the country on their own when their visas expire, and the immigration minister has threatened to deport them if they don’t.
This is a dramatic about-face for a government that for years laid out the welcome mat.
In January 2017, when Trump took office, Trudeau tweeted: “To those fleeing persecution, terror and war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.”
On November 17, almost eight years later, Trudeau released a video promoting his government’s immigration policies, denouncing “bad actors” who “have been exploiting our immigration system for their own interests.”
Last month, the Liberal government, which was trailing in the polls, announced it was cutting permanent and temporary immigration. The population is expected to decline slightly over two years.
Advertising campaigns to counter misinformation about how to apply for asylum could be helpful, said Jamie Chai Yun Liew, a law professor and immigration expert at the University of Ottawa.
“On the other hand, if they say, ‘You’re not welcome’ … it seems contrary to Canada’s approach in the past,” he said. “They have changed their messages.”
