Seven months after it opened, the doors have been shut to the reception centre opened in Gretna for asylum seekers in May. The move is effective Friday, December 1.

The temporary housing facility was set up to help handle the wave of people illegally crossing the Canada/U.S. border and to take the pressure off settlement agencies and homeless shelters in Winnipeg. However, as Carolyn Ryan, Executive Director for Manitoba Housing and Community Development explained, dwindling numbers over the past few months have eased that demand and the Gretna facility is no longer needed.

"We're doing this because the number of people crossing is relatively low and it has stayed that way for some time now, and with these lower volumes we are able to offer those services in Winnipeg," said Ryan.

According to Ryan, this past summer saw between thirty and forty people crossing the international boundary each week. She noted at one point that number was into the sixties. However, that rate has dropped significantly since September and consistently sits at under twenty people crossing per week.

Ryan was quick to add however, that all of the infrastructure at the Gretna reception centre will remain in place just in case the rate of asylum seekers increases.

"If we see numbers start to come back around thirty to forty a week again then we may look at re-opening," she said.

Ryan was asked if her department has any concerns about rising numbers as we head deeper into the winter months.

"We're concerned for peoples' safety of course," she said, "but in terms of predicting volumes, I think we've seen just about every theory about why people cross and when and none of it has really materialized. If we start to see numbers climb again like we did last winter, we'll be ready and we'll reopen (the reception centre)."

She pointed out that a total of 439 people were temporarily housed at the Gretna reception centre during the seven months it was in operation.