Officials from the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Canada (IRCC) have heard from experts in view of a possible program to mass regularize people without status. In a document obtained through the Access to Information Act, we can read that the population of people without status is difficult to assess and that a regularization program would necessarily exclude a certain number of them. Two years after this virtual meeting, groups defending the rights of migrants without status await the announcement of federal policy this spring.
Twenty people gather in front of the constituency office of the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Canada. Marc Miller, elected in Montreal. Banners are displayed; slogans are read, including the phrase “Regularization for all without exception”, written on a lime green fabric. These slogans are repeated a few times by the people present, who came out to put pressure on the Liberal ministers.
This type of demonstration has been recurrent in recent years and intensifies from time to time. The week of February 20, groups across Canada wanted to remind the federal government of its promise to implement a program to regularize workers without status.
Mamadou Konaté was one of the demonstrators present that day in front of Marc Miller's offices. His face and name are familiar in Quebec since he is one of the “guardian angels” who worked as a maintenance worker during the pandemic and were considered essential workers. Threatened with deportation several times, the Ivorian, who is a failed asylum seeker, continues to hope for a program that will allow him to stay in Canada.
“We are going to continue to demonstrate all the time, because the government promised, and a promise is a debt,” he philosophises.
“There are 500,000 people who work for the system, but who do not benefit from protections,” laments Mamadou, who knows a lot of people without status who have been deported. A program like the one called for by the demonstrators might have changed the situation for these people, who have now returned to their country of origin. “Lives are being destroyed,” he laments.
Back in time
The 1Er April 2022, in the midst of a health crisis, a group of officials from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is holding a round table with 10 experts on the issue of undocumented migrants. A 64-page file, obtained under the Access to Information Act, details the discussions and topics discussed during this meeting, which is intended to provide food for thought for ministry employees. Only one expert has been identified: Daniel Heibert from the University of British Columbia. Eight other names are redacted.
This meeting is one of the steps in what could look like the development of a policy for the mass regularization of people without status in the country. In 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indeed tasked the Minister of Immigration at the time, Sean Fraser, to “study options for implementing an initiative that will regularize the status of people without immigration status who have contributed to Canadian communities”, according to the mandate letter, based on pilot projects. The aim is to give them access to permanent residence.
During the COVID-19 health crisis, a “guardian angels” regularization program allowed 8,500 people to obtain permanent residence. On the other hand, they were rejected asylum seekers.
Another program, that of the temporary public policy for construction workers without status in the Greater Toronto Area, had granted 1,029 workers permanent resident status as of August 31, 2023. The program ended in early January 2024.
For her part, Gauri Sreenivasan, co-director general of the Canadian Council for Refugees, which is one of the organizations named by Ottawa as an organization consulted by the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), says that an official meeting took place in 2022. However, since then, there has been no follow-up.
“There is a period of silence of almost two years,” she says, intrigued by the content of what the government believes to be a consultation.
She mentions that if it sees the light of day, the regularization policy could be announced in May 2024.
The government remains evasive and an IRCC spokesperson said in an email that the ministry will also “inform [its] future policy decisions based on lessons learned through recent initiatives [...] in regularization, including the pilot program for construction workers without status, including the pilot program for construction workers without status.”
A disappointment to be expected
One of the points highlighted in the document is the complexity of the situations and that the program will not be entirely transformative.
“Modest expectations about the results of this program are needed, and there will be no instant transformation, or it will not be applicable to everyone,” wrote Alexis Graham, director of social policies and programs at IRCC in an email dated April 6, 2022. This is how she summarizes the conversations from the roundtable held a few days earlier.
In one of the documents made public thanks to the Access to Information Act, we read that the diversity of profiles of undocumented people makes it difficult to develop a program that would include everyone.
“Regardless of the measures put in place, a one-time or repeated program for regularization will not be enough to prevent systemic problems that lead to a loss of status,” say the experts consulted by Ottawa.
According to the document, we read that there is no standard profile to characterize undocumented people. They are young as well as older people, former international students, asylum seekers who have been rejected but not deported.
In Canada, undocumented people seem to have suffered their status rather than having decided on it (by crossing borders illegally, for example). “It can thus be said that Canada is in a particular situation compared to many countries in the northern hemisphere because the majority of its undocumented migrants first arrived here in a regular situation, and that it was later that they found themselves, unintentionally, in an irregular situation.”
Guadalupe, a stateless protester from Mexico, is in this situation. Arriving in Canada 15 years ago, she has lived in Montreal without status for 9 years. This change is causing her several difficulties. “It's very difficult,” she says.
Moreover, the experts consulted believe that regularization will not end the system of exploitation and the social and economic precariousness experienced by undocumented migrants, even once they have obtained permanent status.
“The change of status is not going to solve everything. Some will still have difficulty getting their experience, accreditation, equivalencies or diplomas recognized. These barriers and disadvantages will remain, especially for racialized people,” it said.
Shadow workers
The situation of temporary migrant workers is singled out as a path that can lead to the loss of status.
“Canada's extensive use of foreign markets for temporary workers is probably a major source of irregular migrants. The consequence of the rules concerning temporary workers is that, since they are linked to employers [due to a closed permit], often these relationships deteriorate, resulting in a precarious status,” mentions an expert who is not identified in the document.
The temporary migrant worker program for farms is particularly targeted. “If you don't take care of the migrant farm workers who come every year, then your boat is in trouble.” The rigidity of the temporary worker program, which prevents temporary workers from leaving a job, no matter how abusive or dangerous it is, means that those who leave become without status.
Gauri Sreenivasan, on the other hand, believes that the entire immigration system needs to be reviewed.
Contacted by La Converse in its Toronto office, she says that the number of people without status is due in particular to closed work visas that lock some workers into abusive situations. “We ask them to do all sorts of things, all kinds of contributions to our economy, but we don't give them the choice to decide how to stay in Canada,” she said.
These are people who want to continue working in the country, but who are leaving “very negative” situations and who find themselves caught in a cycle of precariousness.
Security measures in the agricultural sector are mentioned and seem to be disparate. A note reads: “Some migrants are ready to work hard, but they don't want an employer who abuses them. A good employer knows how to retain employees. Variations exist within sectors... For example, agriculture. Very few labor protections in this sector.” The objective of regularization, according to experts, is not to increase the presence of some 500,000 undocumented people on the labor market, but to improve their employment conditions.
In a response provided by an IRCC spokesperson, it is stated that “as we advance in our work, we will continue to listen to experts, as well as to undocumented migrants themselves.” “Although undocumented migrants are not authorized to work in Canada, research suggests that many work in sectors such as agriculture and personal care,” says the department's representative.
A question of “social justice”
It is not only organizations defending the rights of people without status who are chanting it: experts consulted by the government seem to have also declared that the regularization of people without status is a matter of “social justice.”
“There is no doubt that regularization is a good thing, especially from the point of view of social justice and human rights, as it can contribute to the eradication of various forms of exploitation and injustice,” reads the report from the round table of experts who spoke to the government.
A source familiar with the regularization of undocumented migrants recalls that, historically, amnesty programs have been accompanied by a tightening of border rules. The recent announcement of a return of visas for Mexicans could indicate that a mass regularization program is being prepared, according to this person.
“This government measure, although we deplore it, also gives us hope that the regularization program will soon be announced,” says this source, who does not want to be identified so as not to harm her employer, who interacts with IRCC.
Ms. Sreenivasan of the Canadian Council for Refugees is worried about this decision, as well as the increase in deportations in recent months. “People who could theoretically have benefited from an amnesty and regularization program are being returned to their country of origin in a greater proportion than in recent years,” she laments.
For Mamadou Konaté, it is “a fight for dignity”. Even though he has faced deportation, he is resolute.
Taking action before people become undocumented
The expert roundtable highlights the importance of working “upstream”, i.e. taking action to integrate and guide people before they become undocumented. These specialists recognize the systemic nature “associated with the production and reproduction of people with precarious status” and mention in particular the vicious circle in which the children of people without status are trapped.
“[They are] unknown to teachers or school staff, [and] their progress and success are undermined from the start,” the report reads.
Children of undocumented people are sometimes unaware of their irregular status until they think about college. At this point, international student fees apply to them. A system anomaly that a regularization program could correct.
It is among other things for them that Mamadou Konaté decided to make his voice heard.
“There are children who are being held hostage by this system! ” he exclaims. He also laments the devastating repercussions for some people who suffer from a loss of status. “I know people who have become homeless [...] and even Canadian citizens who do not know one of their parents because they have been deported.”
Despite the threat of deportation hanging over him, Mr. Konaté prefers to say the heart of his thoughts. “It is my duty to talk about it, even if it causes me problems. It's okay to say... at least some people will be saved from that... even if we take the risk.”
He is not the only one who is critical. The role of the Canadian immigration system is also being pointed out by academic experts.
In particular, they indicate that “humanitarian application deadlines, closed work permits, closed work permits, changing requirements, programs that are ending, and limited options for inexperienced workers to obtain permanent residence” are all factors that contribute to people becoming undocumented.
Back in front of Minister Miller's constituency office, Guadalupe tried to encourage the troops to sing a song. Like Mamadou Konaté, she is adamant: they will demonstrate as long as the program is not in place.
And for Mr. Konaté, the increasing number of deportations are “not compatible with a 21st century society.E century”, which should treat its residents with more compassion.
“It hurts us that the government announces something and that, at the same time, it is killing people who have contributed to society for 8 years, 10 years.” He invites citizens who do not have to fear for their immigration status to send a letter to their deputy to put pressure on them.