TORONTO — President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to launch a mass deportation of millions of undocumented people is a top focus for Canada, its deputy prime minister said Friday, as the country plans to deal with a possible influx north.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau re-established a special Cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations to address his administration’s concerns about another Trump presidency this week.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is chair of the revived committee, said what Trump’s deportation plan would mean for Canada is a key priority for the committee.
“I do want Canadians to know it is one of our two central points of focus,” Freeland said after the group met for the first time since Trump’s first term in office.
Freeland said controlling Canada’s border is fundamental. “Canadians are right to be concerned about it,” she said.
Freeland said Canada has a plan, but she did not share any details.
She said she spoke to the leaders to Canada’s provinces about the issue this week and said it is intentional that the country’s immigration and public safety ministers are members of the committee. The deputy prime minister said the committee will meet often including early next week again.
Canada saw an increase in the number of irregular border crossings between 2016 and 2023, which the the Royal Canadian Mounted Police attributes in part to the first Trump presidency.
The national police service has said they have been working through multiple scenarios in case there is a change in irregular migration – which is trending down this year
Trump has talked about creating “the largest mass deportation program in history.” And Trump has called for using the National Guard and empowering domestic police forces in the effort.
Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden announced last year a plan to close a loophole to an immigration agreement that allowed thousands of asylum-seeking immigrants to move between the two countries along a back road linking New York state to the Canadian province of Quebec.
The policy says asylum seekers without U.S. or Canadian citizenship who are caught within 14 days of crossing anywhere along the 3,145-mile (5,061-kilometer) border will be sent back.