Ottawa to compensate Quebec border residents, but no cash for Manitoba

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This article was published 07/04/2019 (2375 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL – Quebecers living near the Canada-United States border, where thousands of migrants have crossed irregularly into the country since 2017, will receive more than $400,000 to compensate them for increased traffic and noise.

No such compensation arrangement has been made for residents of Emerson, Man., who have also dealt with issues related to irregular border crossers.

An order paper tabled by the federal government last month projects 45 households near Roxham Road will divide $405,000, with individual compensation based on each home’s proximity to the border.

The document says eight homes will receive the maximum compensation of $25,000, 15 will receive $10,000, and 22 households in the outermost zone will receive $2,500.

The government has budgeted up to $485,000 for the payments, which includes a contingency fund in case more households are deemed eligible.

Roughly 96 per cent of all migrants who have crossed illegally into Canada since 2017 have done so at Roxham Road, about 50 kilometres south of Montreal.

A spokesperson for Border Security Minister Bill Blair says households along the once-quiet country road have had to contend with increased traffic, noise and the construction of temporary border security infrastructure since the migrants began arriving.