TORONTO—On Tuesday, dozens of protesters gathered in front of the Canadian Public Safety Minister's office in Toronto, demanding the end of an asylum treaty between Canada and the United States after eight people drowned while attempting to cross into Canada.

The deaths occurred less than two weeks after the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) was amended, allowing refugees to seek asylum in the first safe country they reach.

Protesters handed in a petition to Canada's Public Safety Minister, Marco Mendicino, whose ministry is in charge of border patrol and policing.

According to Syed Hassan, executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance, which organized the protest, the petition had thousands of signatures calling for the repeal of STCA and the grant of permanent residency to all migrants.

"People continue to perish. In this country, being denied permanent residence status has become a death sentence "Hassan went on to say.

The STCA, which went into effect in 2004, was intended to control the migration of asylum seekers. Asylum seekers attempting to cross from the United States into Canada or vice versa at formal border crossings are turned back and told to apply for asylum in the first "safe" country they arrive in under the original agreement.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came under pressure to change the agreement to cover the entire U.S.-Canada border as refugees began to enter the country through unauthorized crossings.

The policy's detractors claim that it splits up families and encourages immigrants to try to enter the country illegally, which is a dangerous route to take.

Last week, a total of eight individuals from two families lost their lives while attempting to cross the St. Lawrence River near Akwesasne, Quebec, from Canada to the United States by boat.

The world's longest land border, according to Canada and the United States, is best managed using STCA.