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OTTAWA — The number of people seeking asylum in Canada is rising “far beyond” what the existing system can handle, according to a recent letter from Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen obtained by the National Post.

“Without changes to improve efficiency and productivity of the asylum process, wait times and backlogs will only continue to grow,” Hussen writes in the Aug. 14 letter, addressed to the Canadian Bar Association. “This situation is not sustainable, nor is it fair to the people who need Canada’s protection.”

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The language is unusually strong for Hussen, who speaks often about Canada’s “strict and efficient immigration and border-control system,” including in an op-ed for the Toronto Star last month.

His recent correspondence with Barbara Jo Caruso, chair of the immigration law section of the Canadian Bar Association, highlights a sense of urgency as Hussen considers how to reform the backlogged asylum system. But it gives little insight into what changes the Trudeau government is considering following a report released in June that recommended a major overhaul of the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), the arm’s-length body that handles asylum claims.