Globalization has been driven by improvements in technology, communications, transportation and trade. These areas, among others, have contributed to an increase in the movement of people across international borders. Migrant individuals, refugees and asylum seekers find it physically easier and less expensive to move between countries and continents. Migrants use the transport routes, opened up by increasing globalisation, for many different reasons; from fighting for a better life and seeking greater opportunities, to escaping poverty, persecution or other forms of violence. Globally, governments are grappling with growing social and economic pressure caused by higher rates of immigration influenced by improved mobility. Most industrialized countries have developed and implemented restrictive immigration policies aimed at better managing the flow of people across their borders. Asylum seekers constitute a special focus of these policies as they are often seen in developed countries as a group attempting to bypass traditional immigration channels. The following article will attempt to examine two questions. First, what has been the impact of globalization on asylum seekers and, second, how has Canadian asylum policy changed in response to global pressures on asylum, focusing in particular on the potential impact of the introduction of Bill C-11 on Designated Countries of Origin. Who is an Asylum Seeker? Asylum seekers are said to be in an indeterminate state, with no current country of origin. People seeking asylum have fled their countries of origin for a wide range of reasons and are seeking to apply for refugee status in a new country. Each country has a different process for eva...... middle of paper .......ca/Sites/LOP/LegislativeSummaries/Bills_ls.asp?lang=E&ls=c11&source=library_prb&Parl=40&Ses=3 ( accessed March 2011).The Canadian Bar Association. “Bill C-11, Regents Balanced Reform Act.” Executive Summary, National Citizenship and Immigration Law Section, Ottawa, 2010. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Data on asylum seekers. http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c20.html (accessed March 2011). The number of asylum seekers has almost halved over the past decade, the UNHCR says. 28 March 2011. http://www.unhcr.org/4d8cc18a530.html (accessed March 2011). The plight of refugees around the world (1997-1998): a humanitarian agenda. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. Canada Gazette. “Regulations amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.” March 19, 2011. http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2011/2011-03-19/html/reg1-eng.html (accessed March 2011).