Federal ministers say border jumpers are not getting a free pass to stay in Canada just because they're entering the country without first going through customs and immigration.

Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, Transportation Minister Marc Garneau, and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Monday they are working the manage the influx of asylum seekers, who are mostly crossing the border into Quebec because it is easily accessible.

“Let me make the point emphatically - that coming across the border in ways that try to circumvent the law or defy proper procedure is no free ticket to Canada,” said Goodale.

Many of the asylum seekers this year have come from Nigeria, so Hussen is going to head to that country later this month to talk to Nigerian officials about the issue.

He said that in many cases, the Nigerian applicants have been granted visas to stay in the U.S., but after only a few weeks they are being found having walked across the border.

Hussen said the U.S. is now granting fewer visas to Nigerians.

Under the terms of the Safe Third Country Agreement, people who enter Canada somewhere other than a regulated border crossing are allowed to make a claim for asylum without being automatically rejected and returned to the United States.

Goodale said when asylum seekers are found in Canada they are issued a conditional removal order and need to prove they need protection from the Canadian government.

The ministers said the flood of claimants has required the federal government to hire 70 more people to handle the applications.

"And this is a really important point because when someone has a legitimate claim for refugee status we want them to find out as soon as possible so their life is not in limbo and they can move on. And equally importantly if people do not have a legitimate claim for refugee status it's important that we can process their claim quickly so they can be asked to leave Canada. And that is our law," said Hussen.

The announcement is part of $173-million investment announced in this year's budget to hire an additional 70 employees who will process an additional 17,000 refugee claims per year. The money will also be used to build more that 500 new temporary accommodations at the Lacolle border to help alleviate pressure on the shelters in Montreal.

Refugee advocate Rivkah Augenfeld said it is a long overdue increase in resources and is good news for asylum seekers.

“The fact that more money will be given to the immigration and refugee board per se is excellent because one of the problems has been that immigration has sped up the eligibility hearing for people, meaning you do have the right to make a claim, but then it all gets backed up at the immigration and refugee board,” she said.

Provincial officials in Quebec were also glad to hear of the measures, especially since they have been asking Ottawa to do more to deal with the issue.

In a statement, the Quebec government said it was glad the federal government was going to set up a triage centre near the border to quickly evaluate asylum seekers and perhaps direct them to other provinces.

Quebec was also happy to hear Ottawa would set up temporary housing near the border, since the space the province made available for temporary shelter was frequently near capacity.

More than 20,000 people applied for asylum last year, and more than 7,500 applied in the first four months of 2018.

It's a situation the provincial government calls unmanageable; 2500 people crossed irregularly into Canada at Roxham Road in April alone.

About 70 per cent of the asylum seekers who had hearings last year were given permission to stay in Canada. Those most likely to be rejected were from China, Hungary, Nigeria, Colombia, and Haiti.