OTTAWA: Canadian authorities said on Friday they`re on `high alert` with all eyes on the US border as the country braces for a possible influx of migrants from the United States.

US President-elect Donald Trump has promised the largest mass deportation in American history, accusing immigrants of `poisoning the blood of our country.

During his first presidential term from 2017 to 2021, tens of thousands of migrants, including Haitians stripped of US protections, fled north to Canada.

`We`re on high alert,` a Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesman, Sergeant Charles Poirier, said. `All of our eyes are looking at the border to see what`s going to happen...because we know that Trump`s stance on immigration might drive up illegal and irregular migration to Canada,` he said.

In Ottawa, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland met on Friday with a group of ministers tasked with handling thorny issues that might emerge between Canada and the incoming Trump administration.

She sought to reassure that Canada was ready for a possible uptick in migrant arrivals. `We have a plan, she told a news conference after the meeting, without giving details. `Canadians need to know... our borders are safe and secure and we control them.` Watching out for a possible influx comes as Canada is slashing its own immigration targets.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau`s government has said it wants to slow population growth while it bolsters key infrastructure and socialservices.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault this week also expressed concerns about a large number of arrivals overwhelming his province`s already strained ability to house them.-AFP