Isn't this interesting, and from the CBC no less. How much is this costing us? My OAS just went up $7.08 month, enough to almost purchase a gallon and a half of milk.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/asylum-seekers-border-anchor-relatives-1.4771045
Irregular migrants acting as 'anchor relatives' to help get family into the country: CBSA - Kathleen Harris · CBC News - 2 Aug 18
Extract: Canadian border officers are reporting on what they call a "phenomenon" on the migrant front: irregular border crossers acting as "anchor relatives" for those making refugee claims at official points of entry. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) says people who have entered the country through irregular migration can make use of an exception in the law facilitate the entry of family members — even when their own claims haven't been adjudicated.
"Recently, CBSA officers are noticing another phenomenon: claimants who have recently arrived in Canada as irregular migrants and have refugee claims in process are acting as an anchor relative for other qualifying family members," says an information package provided to the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) by the CBSA. "This means that these family members can present themselves at a port of entry and not be considered as irregular migrants. Also, they can't be refused entry under the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA)."
The CBSA document says the provision applies not just to nuclear families but to parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces.
For the first time, the RCMP has provided numbers of asylum seekers intercepted outside official border points for 2016, showing a tenfold spike in just one year. In 2017, 20,593 asylum seekers were intercepted, compared to just 2,486 in 2016. Previously, the RCMP did not track asylum seekers separately from others who were intercepted outside regular crossings and who were engaged in other activities, such as human smuggling. From Jan. 1 to July 15, 2018, there were 11,420 interceptions of irregular migrants at the border. Officials have noted a declining rate of irregular border crossings in recent months.