In the first half of 2025 alone, 245 U.S. citizens filed refugee claims in Canada—already more than in all of 2024, and the highest in any year since 2019, according to new numbers from

Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board.

Now, 245 may sound small compared to the nearly 55,000 total refugee claims Canada has received this year, and historically, very few U.S. claims have been accepted. Still, it’s a noticeable jump, and lawyers say they’re seeing a clear trend.

Many of the new cases are reportedly from transgender Americans who no longer feel safe in the U.S. Reuters spoke with one trans woman from Arizona who moved to Canada this spring to make her claim, as well as a mother who came north to file for her young trans daughter.

The rise comes as President Donald Trump and the U.S. Supreme Court have rolled back protections for trans people—affecting healthcare access, military service, bathroom use, and even participation in sports.

For a U.S. citizen to actually win asylum in Canada, they must prove that no part of the United States is safe for them, a very high bar. Recently, Canada’s refugee board added new evidence from groups like Human Rights Watch documenting the challenges LGBTQ Americans face, which could shape how these claims are considered.

A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, however, pushed back—saying that Americans applying for refugee status in Canada take away space from people facing “actual fear and persecution.” Photo by RGB2, Wikimedia commons.