Canada is Reviewing Permanent Residency Options for Undocumented Migrants

The national government is reviewing proposals to establish a pathway to citizenship for numerous immigrants residing in Canada without proper legal standing.

According to The Globe and Mail, the proposed plan also includes rejected asylum seekers, permitting them to stay legally in Canada.

This new effort aligns with the Prime Minister’s instructions to former immigration minister Sean Fraser in 2021. The instructions emphasized the need to expand on existing trial programs to find ways to legalize the status of undocumented workers who are actively contributing to Canadian society.

Immigration Minister Responds to Growing Calls for Undocumented Migrant Residency Solutions

In September 2023, various groups of migrants, including those without proper documentation, students, and refugees, organized marches in Canadian cities advocating for permanent residency status for all.

Protesters urged the Canadian government to establish an unlimited permanent residency program for all migrants and undocumented immigrants, with no exceptions.

In the latest update, immigration minister Marc Miller acknowledged the significance of the issue and confirmed that they are exploring several options.

Many individuals lacking proper documentation have been working and raising families in Canada for extended periods, yet they face the risk of deportation due to overstaying or being denied the right to remain.

Those who entered the country legally, such as temporary workers, but stayed beyond the expiry of their visas, may have a chance to avoid deportation.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller is developing a plan for discussion within the cabinet before the summer session of Parliament in a few weeks.

The proposal suggests providing an opportunity for regularization and obtaining permanent residency to individuals living in Canada without legal status, including former international students whose study visas have lapsed.

Depending on the volume of applications, the government might consider gradually granting permanent residency to undocumented migrants over several years to prevent a sudden surge, initially issuing work permits.

Record Immigration Targets for Canada in 2024 and 2025

The federal government has reaffirmed its goals of admitting 485,000 permanent residents in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025.

Nonetheless, these figures represent the highest annual immigration targets ever set in Canadian history.

Surveys indicate a decline in public support for immigration, with Canadians increasingly linking a shortage of affordable housing to the influx of newcomers.

Syed Hassan, executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, countered this view, stating that existing residents and workers would not exacerbate housing pressures.

He argued that legalizing the status of migrants residing here could inject billions of dollars into the economy.

Hassan described a program to grant status to individuals living in Canada as a “litmus test” of the government’s commitment to supporting migrants.

Miller’s Proposal to Legalize Undocumented Migrants

In a conversation with The Globe and Mail last year, Mr. Miller estimated that hundreds of thousands of individuals could be living in the country without proper documentation.

He mentioned his intention to present a proposal to the cabinet in the spring, enabling undocumented immigrants to “regularize their status.”

According to two reliable sources, which The Globe and Mail did not identify due to their lack of authorization to speak on the matter, the cabinet is set to examine his proposal.

Several nations have already declared their plans to enable migrants lacking proper documentation to formalize their status.

Canada is expected to emphasize that migrants have been established members of communities for some time and are not recent arrivals.

The program would exclude individuals with serious criminal convictions or terrorist offenses who are still subject to deportation.

Prior Conversations Regarding the Legalization of Undocumented Workers in Canada

Discussions about creating a program to legalize the status of undocumented workers in Canada have been ongoing for some time.

One significant news report on this topic emerged in October 2022 from Radio-Canada.

At that point, Radio-Canada stated that an unnamed government official had informed them that Canada was exploring steps to regularize individuals living in the country with uncertain status.

According to the anonymous source, IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) estimated that up to 500,000 undocumented migrant workers were in Canada at that time.

However, no concrete actions or outcomes were revealed, aside from continued discussions and the recent report by The Globe and Mail.