Asylum seekers bused to New Brunswick left struggling to find help
CBC
Jessica arrived in New Brunswick confused and disoriented, stepping off a bus on a cold March night after a more than 10-hour journey from Roxham Road. She knew nothing about Moncton, the city where she had been sent.
"They never told me where we were going," she said, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter.
Jessica is one of more than 200 asylum seekers bused to New Brunswick after arriving in Quebec over the international border. Her relocation to Moncton was part of a scramble by the federal government to redirect migrants to other parts of the country.
Several migrants told CBC News they were directed onto buses with no idea where they were going or why, only to arrive in Moncton or Fredericton. The move has placed asylum seekers from around the world in a province where they say there is minimal legal aid, a lack of language interpreters and limited resources to help with basic needs.
Jessica fled violence in Ecuador for the U.S., embarking on a harrowing month-long journey through Central America. Fearing for her life, she said she was robbed at gunpoint, traversed a Colombian jungle and spent four days detained in a Mexican jail before finally crossing the border on foot.
After about a month in New York City, she set her sights on Canada after researching an unofficial border crossing called Roxham Road.
CBC News has agreed to protect Jessica's identity because she fears violence to herself or family members still in Ecuador.
Jessica is living in one of more than 100 hotel rooms reserved in Moncton by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to provide temporary housing to people bused from Roxham Road.
In March, New Brunswick agreed to accept the migrants after Quebec said it couldn't handle any more.
The 243 asylum seekers in New Brunswick speak several languages, and local volunteers estimate about half are originally from Latin America. There are migrants from countries around the world, including Angola, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, Mexico, Senegal, Venezuela, Turkey, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.
After arriving in New Brunswick on March 19, Jessica said no one told her information about her next steps.
"Nobody helps you. You're in the hotel alone," she said, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter.
Jessica said shortly after crossing Roxham Road, immigration officials directed her onto a bus. About 10 hours later, she arrived in Moncton, knowing nothing about the place she had been sent.
She only speaks Spanish and initially struggled to find answers about her next steps.
Timiskaming—Cochrane MPP John Vanthof recalls the meeting in Thunder Bay earlier this month. He was part of the nine-day road trip along Highways 11 and 17 with other NDP MPPs.
A bill before the Nova Scotia Legislature is proposing raising the age limit for support for young people who have been in the foster care or group home system to 26.
The Fredericton Police Force has reallocated funds so new staff can be hired this year to better manage evidence after a police error upended murder cases against five people.
One of two pilots killed in a plane crash at New York's LaGuardia Airport Sunday earned his wings at an Ontario college, CBC News has learned.
Air Canada passengers who were aboard Flight 8646 when the CRJ-900 aircraft struck a fire truck upon landing at New York's LaGuardia Airport on Sunday evening say the collision was sudden and forceful, and they may owe their lives to the pilots who died in the incident.
Cardiac services are set to expand at a Winnipeg hospital once regarded as one of the best in Canada for heart care.
A 26-second TikTok video has ignited a larger conversation about vulnerable populations, theft and content creation.
Some family doctors and emergency room physicians working in Edmonton hospitals warn that an April 1 end to stipend pay arrangements could put patient care at risk and increase suffering.
An Auditor General of Canada report has found that B.C. saw drastically fewer international students than was forecast ever since wide-ranging federal immigration cuts began in 2024.
Six years after e-learning became a mandatory requirement to get an Ontario high school diploma, students don't appear to be taking online school to diversify their course selection as the province had intended, according to a CBC News analysis of provincial enrolment data.
Sarnia City Council will hold a special meeting Tuesday morning to respond to social media comments made by Coun. Bill Dennis, who criticized city spending on a new mural by Indigenous artist Kennady Osborne as “virtue signalling by woke politicians” — then made a series of comments in response to a reply from Aamjiwnaang Chief Janelle Nahmabin that some have characterized as unprofessional and aggressive.
While many Albertans continue to feel the pinch at the pump, Premier Danielle Smith says the government is not considering any fuel tax breaks, as it does not believe it will make much of a difference.
WARNING: This story contains disturbing details about gruesome deaths and sexual abuse.