Olympic Stadium has been outfitted with 150 temporary cots in an area that will help shelter the hundreds of asylum seekers streaming into the province of Quebec.
The majority of these refugees are from Haiti and were residing on temporary permits in the United States following the devastation of their homeland during the 2010 earthquake.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw the protective status in May, resulting in as many as 58,000 people facing deportation to Haiti in January 2018.
“They are afraid of what is going to happen to them”
More than 1100 asylum seekers walked across the U.S. border into Quebec during the month of July, compared with last July, when just 80 asylum seekers arrived.
Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre welcomed the Haitians to the biggest city in French-speaking Quebec.
“You can count on our full co-operation,” he tweeted, adding, “Nap kin be fo”, in Creole.
Montreal is also home to the largest Haitian community outside of Haiti.
Marjorie Villefranche, director general of the Maison d’Haiti in Montreal, told CBC News, they’ve been hearing from families living in the U.S. hoping to come to Canada.
“They are afraid of what is going to happen to them,” she said.
Meanwhile there are dozens of other asylum seekers still being held by the Canada Border Services Agency at a border crossing south of Montreal.
(With files from CBC)
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