The Canada–United States Safe Third Country Agreement[a] (STCA) (French: Entente entre le Canada et les États‑Unis sur les tiers pays sûrs) (ETPS) is a treaty, entered into force on December 29, 2004, between the governments of Canada and the United States to better manage the flow of refugee claimants at the shared land border.

The Safe Third Country Agreement does not apply to a person making a refugee claim 14 days or more after entering Canada from the United States.

[3] Shortly after his first inauguration, U.S. President Donald Trump signed these Executive Orders, which have since been revoked by his successor, Joe Biden: In response to Executive Order 13769, immigrant and civil-rights advocacy groups in Canada called for the federal government to suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement.

[18][19][20] On January 30, 2017, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) critic Jenny Kwan, of the New Democratic Party (NDP), proposed an emergency debate on "President Trump's ban on immigration and travel from seven countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

[24] Ahmed Hussen, speaking as Canada's Minister of IRCC, claimed that the conditions of the Safe Third Country Agreement continued to be met.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) itself has cautioned against interpreting safe third country agreements too broadly, though it acknowledges that they may be acceptable in some circumstances.

This is in order to avoid the effects of the agreement, any refugees presenting at a border crossing would be automatically turned back to the United States under the STCA provisions.

[28] As it was not illegal under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act or its associated regulations to cross the border outside of a port of entry as long as the person presented themselves to a Canada Border Services Agency officer without delay and STCA did not apply to claims outside of a port of entry, it was possible for persons otherwise ineligible to make a claim after crossing irregularly.

This legal challenge was supported by prominent figures such as Judge Michael Phelan of the Federal Court of Canada on November 29, 2007, and many others.

"[36][37] As when enforcing STCA, the refugees returning to the US are detained and imprisoned there, which is a “foreseeable” consequence of Canada's actions.