OTTAWA - Minister of State of Foreign Affairs Diane Ablonczy hinted Wednesday the government was ready to revisit the visa requirement for Mexicans travelling to Canada.

The visas - imposed by the government three years ago - have been an ongoing irritant between the two countries.

During a media teleconference from Washington, Ablonczy said if Canada's overhaul of its refugee system manages to clear out bogus refugee claims as hoped, it may be willing to prop the doors open a little wider.

"We'll see how it works out but we'd certainly like to see these difficulties cleared away," she said. "We want to have open doors to our friends in Mexico."

The visa requirement was imposed in 2009 over what the federal government said was a spike in bogus refugee claims from Mexico.

By 2008, refugee claims from that country had nearly tripled since 2005 and it had become the top source country for asylum claims. Only 11% were accepted.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney's Bill C-31 received royal assent in June. It included a number of reforms to the asylum system to crackdown on fake refugee claims.