The federal government said that it is seeking a pathway for those lacking official status to stay in Canada, while also speeding up deportation procedures.
It is set to be part of a Citizenship Bill announcement being made by Immigration Minister Marc Miller on Thursday, May 23.
“People who aren’t here regularly need to be supported and taken care of,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Winnipeg recently.
“There needs to be either a pathway towards regularization and citizenship, which I know the (immigration) minister is working on. In some cases, we need to accelerate deportation proceedings.”
The announcement was delivered by Trudeau at Elwick Community School in Winnipeg on May 17. This was in response to advocates for gender minorities claiming that the lack of a regularization program is causing those without official status to get exploited.
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An undocumented migrant is an individual who has no authorization to reside and/or work in Canada. Some may have overstayed their temporary status, while others may have remained in Canada following a rejected asylum claim.
There is no accurate tally of the number of these individuals living in Canada, although academic estimates lie between 20,000 and 500,000 persons.
In October 2023, IRCC said that it continues to explore options to regularize those people who lack immigration status and have been contributing socially and economically to Canada’s communities.
It also said that it values its ongoing dialogue with stakeholder organizations, such as the Canadian Council for Refugees and the Migrant Rights Network, to ensure that the voices of those with lived experience are accounted for.
Previously, IRCC has put in place certain regularization initiatives, such as the Guardian Angels temporary public policy. This PR pathway was put in place during COVID for pending and failed refugee claimants who worked in patient care, and their family members.
More than 8,500 individuals benefited from this pathway.
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Right now, IRCC has in effect the temporary Public Policy for Out-of-Status Construction Workers in the Greater Toronto Area. This policy recognizes the economic contributions of workers in the construction industry while addressing vulnerabilities associated with their lack of status.
As of August 31, 2023, 1,029 individuals have been admitted, of which 441 were principal applicants and 588 were dependents.
In late 2021, the Liberal government pledged to “explore ways of regularizing status for undocumented workers who are contributing to Canadian communities.” However, no timeline was put on when this would take effect.
The Immigration Minister’s office, as per CityNews, said on Friday that it is on track to present a proposal to Miller’s fellow cabinet minister prior to Parliament rising for its summer break in June.
“There’s a balance in making sure that the integrity of our immigration system holds,” Trudeau said.
“That’s one of the reasons why Canadians are, unlike so many other countries in the world, continuing to be positive towards immigration — because our immigration system is rigorous.”
