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OTTAWA — The federal government has agreed to review Quebec’s claim for reimbursement of refugee claimants and is promising to take measures to ease the province’s burden.

“We will work on the numbers together and we will find common ground,” federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau said after Wednesday night’s meeting of the task force on irregular migration, which was launched in August to deal with the crisis.

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Ottawa has agreed to put in place a triage process for asylum seekers at the border to find out which province they want to go to. Those who do not wish to stay in Montreal will, depending on their skills, be directed to other areas of Quebec where there are labour shortages. The granting of their work permit will be accelerated so they can find a job as quickly as possible and pay for their living expenses.

Garneau also indicated that $74 million of the $173 million allocated in the last federal budget to manage irregular arrivals at the border will be used to speed up the processing of refugee claims by the Immigration and Refugee Board.