Thank you so much for asking that.
As I mentioned a little bit earlier, when they cross the border irregularly and they are not intercepted, they need to claim inland. When they claim inland, the whole process of the refugee claim is way more difficult and longer because of the backlog we see with legal aid. It would take, at times, one or two months for a refugee claimant to be able to start working with their lawyers to put their claim in. Then it will take some time to receive income assistance and work permits are delayed for up to 18 months or more.
During this time they do not really have any other financial resources and the stress of not having legal status, of not receiving results on their eligibility interview and from the risk of being denied and found ineligible after more than a year of being in the country puts a lot of pressure on refugee claimants. We receive refugee claimants every week in need of counselling services and one-on-one sessions for the trauma they are going through. They are stressed out.
We're seeing families being separated because they cannot take the pressure any longer because of the uncertainty. It has a toll on these refugee claimants.