OTTAWA: Canadian authorities said on Friday they’re on “high alert” with all eyes on the US border as the country braces for a possible influx of migrants from the United States.

US President-elect Donald Trump has promised the largest mass deportation in American history, accusing immigrants of “poisoning the blood of our country.” During his first presidential term from 2017 to 2021, tens of thousands of migrants, including Haitians stripped of US protections, fled north to Canada.

“We’re on high alert,” a Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesman, Sergeant Charles Poirier, said. “All of our eyes are looking at the border to see what’s going to happen […] because we know that Trump’s stance on immigration might drive up illegal and irregular migration to Canada,” he said.

In Ottawa, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland met on Friday with a group of ministers tasked with handling thorny issues that might emerge between Canada and the incoming Trump administration.

She sought to reassure that Canada was ready for a possible uptick in migrant arrivals. “We have a plan,” she told a news conference after the meeting, without giving details. “Canadians need to know […] our borders are safe and secure and we control them.” Watching out for a possible influx comes as Canada is slashing its own immigration targets.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has said it wants to slow population growth while it bolsters key infrastructure and social services.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault this week also expressed concerns about a large number of arrivals overwhelming his province’s already strained ability to house them.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2024