Ottawa/Toronto: Canada will turn back asylum seekers who walk over the US-Canada border, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday, as economic damage from the coronavirus outbreak intensified and a ban on non-essential travel across the world’s longest undefended border was set to come into effect.
More than 500,000 applications for Canadian unemployment benefits were made so far this week, versus just under 27,000 in the same week last year, Trudeau said. The monthly number of unemployment insurance claims last year averaged 239,000.
“This is of course an unprecedented situation and it is putting a lot of pressure on our system, but we’re on it,” he told reporters outside his house, where he has been in isolation since his wife tested positive for the virus last week.
Air Canada, the country’s largest carrier, said on Friday it will temporarily lay off more than 5,100 employee
