On June 25, 2026, the US Supreme Court cleared the way for the federal government to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for roughly 350,000 Haitians — and, in a second ruling the same day, endorsed turning away asylum seekers before they set foot on US soil. Both decisions were decided 6 to 3.
Neither is a Canadian law. But because of one bilateral agreement Canada signed more than 20 years ago, what the United States does with its protected-status and asylum rules has always shaped who arrives at Canada's border — and what happens to them when they do. Here's what the Court actually decided, how Canada's Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) handles it, and the honest answer to the question a lot of people are asking this week: can someone who just lost status in the US claim asylum in Canada instead?
What the Supreme Court actually ruled
The Court issued two separate immigration decisions on the same day.
The first, on TPS, overturned lower-court rulings that had blocked the move to end protected status for Haitian and Syrian nationals. TPS is a temporary, renewable protection for people from countries in crisis; the Haitian designation traces back to the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and the collapse that followed. The Supreme Court held that a provision of the TPS statute prevents courts from reviewing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary's decision to end a country's status — even a challenge arguing the required procedures weren't followed. Crucially, the Court did not rule that the proper steps were taken. It ruled that courts can't ask the question in the first place.
The practical effect: once the decision takes hold "in the days or weeks to come," hundreds of thousands of people who have been living and working in the US lawfully lose that status. Many become undocumented for the first time, exposed to loss of work authorization and to deportation. The ruling also affects far more than Haiti — roughly 4,000 Syrians are named in the same case, and protections for other groups, including over 600,000 Venezuelans, are now more vulnerable too.
The second ruling endorsed a border practice known as "metering." US law lets anyone who "arrives in" the country apply for asylum. The Court drew a line between arrives in and arrives at, holding that a person standing at the border who hasn't physically stepped onto US soil has no right to be inspected — so officers can turn them back. That decision is about the US-Mexico border, not Canada's, but it's part of the same shift: fewer ways into the US asylum system, and less court oversight of how that system is run.
Why a US ruling lands on Canada's doorstep
When the US withdraws protection from a large group, some of those people look north. Whether they can actually claim asylum in Canada comes down to the Safe Third Country Agreement — a deal between Canada and the United States that's been in force since December 29, 2004.
The logic of the STCA is simple: refugee claimants must ask for protection in the first safe country they reach. To get to a Canada-US land crossing, you travel through the United States — which Canada designates as a "safe" country — so the US counts as that first country. Under the agreement, someone arriving at the Canadian land border from the US is generally not eligible to make a refugee claim in Canada and is returned to the US, unless they fit a specific exception.
For years there was a workaround: cross between official border posts, and the old rules let you make a claim anyway. That's what drove the well-known traffic at unofficial crossings like Roxham Road in Quebec. An Additional Protocol that took effect on March 25, 2023 closed that gap — it extended the STCA across the entire land border, including between ports of entry, capturing claims made within 14 days of crossing. So the "walk across a ditch and claim" route is, as a matter of policy, no longer open.
One more piece matters here. The US is the only country Canada has ever designated as a safe third country, and Canadian law requires that designation to be reviewed continually against four factors — including the country's human rights record and its compliance with the 1951 Refugee Convention. Critics have long argued the US no longer meets that bar; the Canadian government's published position is that the US "continues to meet the requirements." Rulings like this week's tend to reopen that debate. As of today, Canada has not changed the designation.
The one door that stays open: the family exception
The STCA isn't an absolute wall. It has four categories of exception, and for most people only one is realistic:
- Family member exception — you have a qualifying relative in Canada (more on this below).
- Unaccompanied minors — claimants under 18 with no parent or legal guardian in Canada or the US.
- Document holders — people who already hold a valid Canadian visa, work permit, or study permit.
- Public interest — a narrow category, mainly involving people facing the death penalty.
The family-member exception is the one that actually moves numbers, and it's broader than most people assume. You can qualify if you have a relative in Canada who is a citizen, a permanent resident (PR), a protected person, or even a valid work or study permit holder — and the STCA's definition of "family" reaches well beyond a spouse or parent. It includes siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews. So a Haitian national losing TPS who has, say, a brother who is a Canadian PR may be able to make a claim at the land border. Someone with no such tie generally cannot, and would be turned back under the agreement.
This is the detail that gets lost in the headlines. "The US ended their status" doesn't translate to "they can claim asylum in Canada." For most people the honest answer is that the land border is closed to a claim unless they fit one of these exceptions.
What Canada has — and hasn't — done
As of June 28, 2026, Canada has announced no change to the Safe Third Country Agreement and no special measure in response to the ruling. The agreement remains in force exactly as written above.
Separately, Canada is in the middle of overhauling its own asylum system under Bill C-12. New procedural regulations were published in the Canada Gazette on June 20 and are out for a 30-day public comment period — covering how claims are filed, the timelines IRCC must hit, and when claimants can work. We broke that down in our guide to the proposed asylum-process regulations, and the bigger legal picture in our Bill C-12 explainer. The takeaway: Canada's refugee system is already being rebuilt and is already carrying a large backlog, which is the context any new pressure would land in.
What no one can tell you honestly is how many people will head north, or how many would qualify under an exception. Past US policy shifts have moved border numbers before, but the size and timing aren't predictable, and we won't pretend otherwise. We'll report concrete changes when and if Canada announces them — not before.
What this means if you're in Canada's immigration system
For the great majority of ImmiNorth readers — people working through Express Entry, a Provincial Nominee Program, a study permit, or a work permit — this ruling changes nothing about your file. It's a different system on a different track. The only indirect link worth noting is capacity: asylum intake and economic immigration are managed by the same department, and a large protection caseload can compete for IRCC's attention. That's a reason to keep an eye on processing-time trends, not a reason to change your plans.
If you're in the US on TPS and thinking about Canada, the important thing is to separate the two routes. A claim at the land border is, for most people, off the table unless you meet an STCA exception. The realistic, legal paths into Canada are the ordinary ones — a job offer and work permit, a study permit, or PR through Express Entry if your profile qualifies. If you're weighing whether Canada is even a fit, our Canada vs. US immigration comparison is a starting point, and you can check your Express Entry score for free. For an actual protection case, this is exactly the kind of complex, high-stakes situation that belongs with a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) or a refugee lawyer — not a forum post, and never anyone charging you for a "guaranteed" way across.
If you have US status and a relative in Canada, find out whether you'd even be eligible to make a land-border claim before you travel. The STCA family-member exception turns on having a specific qualifying relative in Canada — and "family" is defined more broadly than people expect, reaching siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews who are Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or valid permit holders. If you have that tie, get the relationship documented and talk to an RCIC about how the exception is assessed. If you don't, a border claim generally isn't an option, and your time is better spent on the economic routes that are actually open to you.
Sources
- American Immigration Council — Supreme Court Allows Trump to Strip TPS, Turn Away Asylum Seekers in Pair of New Immigration Rulings (June 25, 2026)
- Government of Canada — Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement (exceptions, scope, and US designation)
- CBC News — Supreme Court rules for Trump on TPS migrant program
- Al Jazeera — US Supreme Court paves way for government to block asylum seekers at border