Canada announced on Thursday that it would require visas for Mexican nationals to enter the country, a move that comes amid a surge in asylum requests from Mexicans arriving in Canada.
The rule follows months of discussions between the two countries over the rise in the number of Mexicans entering Canada, including repeated attempts by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to address the issue with Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Some provincial officials say a surge of asylum seekers has strained their resources and their ability to provide social services.
“We needed to give Mexico, because of our friendship, the chance to rectify things,” Marc Miller, Canada’s immigration minister, said at a news conference.
“This clearly was not done,” he added, “so we had to take a decision.”
The visa mandate, which will go into effect Thursday night, had been lifted by Mr. Trudeau in 2016 to boost tourism and as a sign of the close ties between the two countries.
Since then the number of Mexican asylum claims has soared, to roughly 24,000 last year from 260 eight years ago. About 17 percent of all Canadian asylum claims last year were filed by Mexican nationals.
