More Americans applying for refugee status in Canada, shows data
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A total of 245 Americans sought refugee status in Canada in the first half of 2025, compared with 204 for the whole of 2024.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- US refugee claims in Canada surged in the first half of 2025, exceeding totals for 2024 and any year since 2019, though remain a small portion of overall claims.
- Transgender Americans are increasingly seeking asylum in Canada, citing rollbacks of transgender rights in the US by the Trump administration and Supreme Court.
- Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board assesses US asylum claims, now considering evidence of LGBTQ+ treatment, while the US suggests claims hinder those with "actual fear".
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TORONTO - More Americans applied for refugee status in Canada in the first half of 2025 than in all of 2024, and more than in any full year since 2019, according to data published on Aug 21 by Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board.
Their share of total refugee claims – 245 of about 55,000 – is small, and Canada’s acceptance of US refugee claims has historically been low.
Asylum seekers from other countries crossing the land border from the US are sent back under a bilateral agreement, with the reasoning that they should apply for asylum in the first “safe” country they arrive in.
In 2024, 204 people filed refugee claims in Canada, with the US as their country of alleged persecution.
Claims from the US also rose during the first Trump administration.
The data does not explain why the claims were made.
Eight lawyers told Reuters that they have been hearing from more transgender Americans wanting to leave.
Reuters spoke to a transgender woman from Arizona who came to Canada in April to file a claim, and to a woman who filed a claim on behalf of her young transgender daughter.
US President Donald Trump and the US Supreme Court have rolled back transgender rights, restricting who can access gender-affirming care, who can serve in the military, who can use which toilets and who can play in some sports.
To gain asylum, refugees must convince Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board that nowhere in the US is safe for them.
The board recently added documents from groups such as Human Rights Watch examining the US’ treatment of LGBTQ people to its national documentation package detailing country conditions. REUTERS
