Montreal schools brace for influx of asylum seekers

Calinx Dieu Juste and his family crossed the border into Canada from the United States only four days ago, and they're already thinking about school.

Three of hisfour childrenare between ages eight and 12, meaning soon enough, they will have to enrol into a French-language school if they plan to stay in the province.

Monday is the first day asylum seekers who recently arrived in Montreal can sign their children up for schoolat the city's largest French-languageschool board, the Commission scolaire de Montral (CSDM).

• Asylum seekers find warm welcome at Olympic Stadium

But Dieu Juste says it's not something he's worried about, even if his children had started learning English at the school they were attending in Virginia.

"It's not too big a deal. If any person can learn English, they can learn French also," Dieu Juste, who is originally from Haiti, told CBC News.

Increase in enrolment

The CSDM has experienced a 14 per cent increase in enrolment this year already, the equivalent of a small elementary school's population.

"I would say it's unheard of," CSDM president Catherine Harel Bourdon told Radio-Canada. "But it's an essential service.

"We will need some money from the Education Ministry to make sure that we have all the equipment and everything available to make sure the children all have the chance to learn French," HarelBourdon said.

In a statement, the ministry said it hasreached out to the school board to plan for the upcoming year, andwould be evaluating enrolment numbers before determining whether toinject funds into Montreal's school system.

• Surge in asylum seekers coming to Canada nothing new, community groups say

Quebec has seen a rise in asylum seekers crossing the border illegallyfollowing U.S. President Donald Trump's election last November, with the most arriving in the past two months.

Address required to sign up

The majority are Haitian nationals, fearing deportation after Trump announced his administration would end the temporary protected status given to Haitiansafter the 2010 earthquake. Many will lose status as early as January.

• Why are thousands of Haitians streaming into Canada from the U.S.?

They are being housed in centres across the city, including at the Olympic Stadium, and must apply for refugee status if they want to stay in Canada.

There is an obstacle, however, to enrolling children in school. To sign upwith the CSDM, you need a home address.

Only 10 Haitian families had signed up so far, according to the CSDM. They havebeen in the city for several weeks.

Harel Bourdon saidthe school board is doing everything it can to make sure the rest of those who've arrived "will be in our classes as soon as Aug. 28," when school starts.

'They have abandoned everything'

Josu Loubondo, who migrated from the Congo, one of the countries Canada has an official moratorium on deportations to, was volunteering at the YMCA Tupper Street residence where many asylum claimants are staying.

He said many haven't had the chance to think about schooling yet and are mostly preoccupied with applying for status.

"They're seven, eight years old, they have abandoned everything, they don't understand French, they came here to start from zero," Loubondosaid.

Dieu Juste and his family came to Canada after their claims for political asylum were rejected in the U.S.

"If they send us back to Haiti, we're going to lose our lives," Dieu Juste said outside aYMCA.

He saidhe knew the implications of crossing the border outside ports of entry, but felt it washis family's only option.