Information Act: Immigration and Canadian Press

information act: Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen speaks during a news conference in Ottawa on Feb. 21, 2017, according to Huffington Post Canada. Photo Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press With 2017 application numbers expected to far exceed earlier projections, the board simply can't keep up, says the memo, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. The Immigration and Refugee Board is already trying to whittle down its current backlog, but received no new money in the latest federal budget. The Immigration Department memorandum was drawn up this spring amid a flood of people illegally crossing into Canada from the U.S. to claim asylum, dominating headlines and raising pointed House of Commons questions about the integrity of Canada's borders and immigration system. Since January, at least 2,700 people have been intercepted by the RCMP between legal border points; most went on to file claims. The department was asked to explore estimated backlogs at the Immigration and Refugee Board and the associated wait times under different scenarios, following a meeting about the U.S. border-crosser issue in March. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.