Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has said 490 are onboard and that the vessel MV Sun Sea has declared them to be refugees. But he said the government has concerns that there may be members of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or Tamil Tigers, on board. Canada has labeled the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist group since 2006.

Gary Anandasangaree, a lawyer with the Canadian Tamil Congress, was on the scene as the boat arrived.

Anandasangaree said he can't believe how small the 194-foot (59-meter) ship is considering how many people are onboard. “It clearly gives us an idea of the type of conditions that could have been inside. Very cramped, given the size,” Anandasangaree said. Children also were believed to be on board.

The MV Sun Sea was boarded by Canadian security officials late Thursday and brought to a seaside military facility where authorities can process the people. The rusty boat is being held at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt on the outskirts of British Columbia's provincial capital of Victoria on Vancouver Island, 75 km east of Vancouver on the Canadian mainland.

The boat reportedly approached Australia a few months ago but was either turned away or feared it wouldn't be allowed to dock and sailed toward Canada. Canada is home to about 300,000 Tamils, the largest such population outside Sri Lanka and India.

Buses are expected to take many of the boat passengers to two Vancouver-area jails while officials sort out who are legitimate refugees and who are human smugglers or terrorists.

Toews, the public safety minister, said all the people onboard will be processed according to their claims and if they are not found to be valid they won't be treated as refugees. He said some are human smugglers and terrorists.