Canada’s new immigration laws will make it “virtually impossible” for authorities to review refugee claims from most people entering Canada via the United States, according to Amnesty International.

While the Canadian government says its proposed Strong Borders Act will improve the immigration and asylum system, Amnesty and other human rights groups are calling some of the measures “an attack” on refugees’ right to seek asylum.

Also, Amnesty says the bill would prevent people who have been in Canada for more than a year from seeking refugee status. People facing harm, including persecution and torture, in their countries could be “unfairly denied” refugee protection by Canada, the agency said.

Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada Ketty Nivybandi ’s English-speaking section, said seeking asylum is a human right.

“With Bill C-2, the Canadian government threatens to chip away at that right, making it harder for people seeking safety and freedom to file an asylum claim and have it assessed fairly,” Ms Nivyabandi said.

“This attack on the right to seek asylum will severely diminish Canada’s international standing when it comes to protecting human rights,” she said.

Government agency Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said in a statement the Act would address what it called growing migration pressures by making the immigration and asylum systems stronger, efficient and more flexible.

Canadian human rights lawyer Julia Sande told local media that while the bill is less explicit than the Trump administration’s rhetoric in linking immigration and asylum seekers to crime and drug trafficking, the proposed measures were “concerning.”

“We don’t agree that it makes the system more efficient, and we’re also concerned about the linking of asylum seekers … to things like fentanyl and guns at the border, like asylum seekers have nothing to do with border safety,” Ms Sande said.

“These are people who are fleeing persecution, torture, discrimination, violence, who are looking to Canada for safety and Canada is trying to slam the door on them, and so we’re really concerned about this bill,” she said.

Canada has long been a leading destination country for refugees.

In 2023, Canada received 143,770 refugee claims. A significant portion of these claims were from countries like Iran and Turkey, with acceptance rates exceeding 95 per cent for some.

Canada also resettles refugees from other countries, with figures from 2019 showing a substantial number of refugees arriving through various programs.