Ottawa is considering a plan to relocate tens of thousands of asylum seekers across Canada to take the pressure off of Quebec and Ontario. The immigration minister said Wednesday he will use what levers he has available to get uncooperative provinces to take more.

According to a federal government briefing document obtained by National Post, 235,825 people are seeking asylum in Canada, with the bulk making their claims in Ontario and Quebec, Canada’s two most populous provinces. But if Canada were to find a way to distribute asylum seekers around the country based on provincial populations — similar to what premiers asked for following a July meeting — tens of thousands of refugees would be spread out around the country.