"The Conservatives issued a statement saying the surge is an “unsustainable trend” that will add to a backlog in the overtaxed immigration and refugee system."

Don't believe it.  This is, for the next few months, quite a "sustainable trend".  The "immigration and refugee system" (most others refer to it simply as the immigration system) is NOT overtaxed.  

In the first five months of this year, Canada was the destination of 18,600 border-jumping U.S. "refugees." The word is in quotation marks, because...these are people with UNAPPROVED status.  About 8,000 of those will be refused--just under 40% is the usual ratio, it might even be higher here--because they simply do not qualify as refugees under our system. (Your contract was up?  So what?) That leaves about 10,600.  Add another 10,000 or so.  That's less than 20,000.

The 2017 Liberal immigration plan included 14% in the "refugee" category.  That's 44,000 or so.  

On the other hand, you were a contractor?  Speak English? Hmm...