But five months later, the overall number of people filing refugee claims in Canada has risen instead of falling.
But it has sought to discourage those applying for asylum, chiefly through an agreement with the U.S. under which each country turns back asylum seekers.
Asylum seekers are drawn by Canada's reputation for swifter processing and greater acceptance of asylum applications compared to the U.S.
But overall, the number of asylum seekers entering Canada has surged.
People applying at airports comprised about a third of all refugee claims made in July, up from about 16% in March.
Persons:
Shauna Labman, Joe Biden's, Craig Damian Smith, Remi Lariviere, Lariviere, Abdulla Daoud, Loly Rico, Hana Bakhit, Maureen Silcoff, Silcoff, Grace Nanziri, Anna Mehler, Denny Thomas, Deepa Babington
Organizations:
Reuters, Human, University of Winnipeg, U.S, European Union, Centre for Refugee Studies, York University, FCJ Refugee, REUTERS, Refugee Centre, FCJ, Thomson
Locations:
Canada, U.S, Toronto, Quebec, New York, United States, Mexico, Haiti, Turkey, Colombia, India, Rwanda, Montreal, Canada's, Sudan, Uganda