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Canada is not yet ready to lift its visa requirement on Mexican travellers, an official said Wednesday as the government signaled visitors from the Czech Republic would no longer need visas.

The official said that while Canada hoped to agree on a roadmap for tackling the dispute, Ottawa’s security concerns would have to be satisfied before it allowed visa-free travel for Mexicans.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Czech tourists will no longer need visas, but Mexican travellers out of luck as 'serious' security concerns remain Back to video

“Mexico is still very much on the frontlines of Latin American criminality,” said Kevin Menard, a senior special assistant to Chris Alexander, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

Mexico still on the frontlines of Latin American criminality

“While we support efforts to shore up their borders and crack down on organized crime, we have been very clear that to get back to visa-free travel to Canada, we need to see certain things we’ve not seen from the Mexicans so far.”

The government began making Mexicans obtain visas before visiting Canada in 2009, after refugee claims from the country spiked to about 10,000 a year — a figure that has dropped to less than 70 so far this year.