Canada makes way for newcomers without official status

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada needs a way to help some immigrants without formal status stay, while in other cases Ottawa needs to speed up deportation procedures.

Her comments come as gender and sexual minority advocates say the lack of a regularization program leaves people without formal status in Canada vulnerable to exploitation.

“People who aren't here all the time need support and care,” Trudeau told reporters in Winnipeg on Friday.

“I know the (immigration) minister is working, there has to be a path to disciplinary action and citizenship. In some cases, the deportation process needs to be expedited,” he said.

The Liberals have pledged to “explore ways to regularize the status of undocumented workers who contribute to Canadian communities” by the end of 2021. Trudeau said there was no timeline for exactly when it would take effect.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada defines undocumented people as those who have overstayed their temporary visas, stayed in Canada after their asylum application was rejected, or entered Canada without contacting the authorities.

Immigration Minister Mark Miller's office said on Friday it was ready to make a recommendation to his cabinet colleagues before parliament goes into summer recess next month.

“There is a balance in making sure our immigration system is intact,” Trudeau said.

“That's one of the reasons Canadians are more positive about immigration than many other countries in the world, because our immigration system is tough.”

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says it does not have an accurate estimate of how many undocumented immigrants live in Canada, but academic sources estimate the number at 500,000 or less than 20,000.

“Undocumented migrants fear detection and removal, and many are extremely vulnerable as they have very limited access to health and social services,” the department's briefing paper prepared for testimony to Parliament in November 2022 said.

The Migrant Rights Network raised the issue Friday to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, noting that gender and sexual minorities are disproportionately represented among immigrants without legal status in Canada.

According to Swati Sekhar, a lawyer with the advocacy group Rainbow Railroad, this is partly due to discrimination in the legal systems and volunteer groups created to protect refugees.

“LGBTCI+ people are being deported to places where they can be killed,” he said at a press conference in Toronto.

“Such a regulatory scheme could save lives for many LGBTQI+ migrants living in this country.”

Sarome Roe of the Migrant Worker Alliance for Change called for an unlimited regularization program, saying Trudeau “must immediately end all deportations.”

According to him, people are abused by employers and refuse medical care. “Queer, undocumented people are being deported to countries where same-sex relationships are criminalized, conversion therapy still exists, and in some cases the death penalty is legalized.”

Charles Mwangi, a bisexual man from Kenya, says he has lived in Canada for less than five years despite having his refugee claim rejected. It will be submitted for a final appeal next month.

“I fear for my life at home because I will be killed,” said Mwangi, who was working on books at a nursing home when she suddenly lost her job. He said that he was forced to raise the rent arbitrarily because he could not ask for help from the authorities.

Jane, an undocumented health worker from Uganda, said she could not return to her country, which last year passed a law imprisoning people who identify as sexual and gender minorities and punishable by death for same-sex acts.

The woman, whose last name was withheld for security reasons, said: “When I walk down the street and see police officers, my heart is pounding because I am afraid of being stopped and deported.”

She says she has been living in Canada for seven years, but her co-workers who have legal status are still being abused because they assign her more work than she is paid for. “They took advantage of my situation and took advantage of me. They had the right to talk to their superiors because of their status, but I didn't,” he said.

The Department of Immigration has implemented short-term pilot projects, such as the Guardian Angels program during the COVID-19 pandemic, which provided permanent residency to 8,500 pending and failed refugee claimants or their family members who worked in direct patient care.

Another program for the Greater Toronto Area, called the Public Policy for Out-of-Status Construction Workers, granted permanent residency to 441 workers and 588 dependents as of last August.

This Canadian Press report was first published on May 17, 2024.