‘Too many people are coming’: Canada reintroduces electronic visas for Mexicans
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00:00 From now on, Mexicans hoping to go to Canada will have to apply for an electronic visa
00:06 after Ottawa reintroduced the system for casual travellers.
00:10 Hanna had hoped to accompany her son when he starts his studies in Montreal.
00:14 She's trying to get to grips with the new requirements.
00:18 "It's not obvious because everything is on the internet.
00:23 So we want to do it online.
00:25 It's supposed to be easier, but I'd still like to have a date.
00:29 I was ready.
00:30 I was ready to take him with me.
00:32 He's ready to travel too."
00:35 The measure aims to halt the influx of asylum seekers arriving by plane.
00:39 There were 260 in 2016, but nearly 24,000 in 2023, according to Immigration Canada.
00:47 The decision came as a surprise to some of the regulars on the Mexico-Montreal route.
00:52 "We were surprised when, from one day to the next, we were told that we needed a visa.
00:57 It made us nervous."
00:59 "I hope it will help those who really need it."
01:03 "Too many people are coming, not for the right reasons.
01:07 I'm against that.
01:08 But there are people who really need refuge and it's sad that we don't give them the opportunity."
01:14 While Mexico City says it's unhappy, Ottawa says it's not afraid of reprisals in terms
01:20 of trade between the two countries and maintains that it was critical to regulate the flow
01:25 of asylum seekers.
01:26 Students, workers and those who obtained a visa before March 1st 2024 are spared.
01:32 But this lawyer says authorities have taken thousands of Holidayin families by surprise
01:37 and omitted certain cases in their reform.
01:40 "These are families that are being separated because people who have a study permit could
01:45 come without needing a visa, but their child, let's say six years old, had to stay in Mexico
01:49 and wait several weeks to get a visa to come and join his father.
01:53 Even if the child was already in Canada and was, for example, on holiday."
02:00 According to Ottawa, the visa requirements will affect almost 40 percent of travellers.
02:05 In 2023, around the same percentage of Mexicans who applied for a visa were granted refugee
02:11 status in Canada.
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