After medical and security checks, anyone arriving in Canada may apply for refugee status, wrote the National Post Aug. 13, in a story that used statistics provided by Michele Millard, coordinator of the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University:

The process takes anywhere from six months to 15 years.

A new law passed this year, Bill C-11, is expected to expedite applications and reduce the current wait-list of about 55,000 claimants. Canadian refugee claimants either stay with family or friends, at homeless shelters or, if the government considers them a security threat, in jail. The onus is on the claimant to prove that he or she faces persecution in the country of origin. Rejected applicants are deported, though many stay in Canada illegally.

The country is on track to receive about 20,000 refugee claims in 2010. Canada once accepted as much as 89 per cent of the applicant pool but now admits half that.

Republished courtesy of YFile– York University’s daily e-bulletin.