Regularizing Immigration Status: Canada’s Path to Inclusive Immigration Reform

Canada needs to provide status for all now. That means we need a permanent, comprehensive, inclusive, and accessible regularization program implemented in Canada as soon as possible.

What better way to honour migrants on the occasion of International Migrants Day than by introducing an immigration status regularization program in Canada? The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed December 18 as “the day” on 28 February 2001. The proclamation commits member states and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to observe International Migrants Day through: “the dissemination of information on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of migrants, the sharing of experience and the design of actions to ensure their protection.”

Canada has a long way to go before these objectives are fulfilled.

Migrants in Canada

We do not know for certain how many people in Canada might be without immigration status.

The Minister of Immigration, Marc Miller, has estimated there might be between 300,000 and 600,000 people without immigration status in Canada. The Migrant Rights Network estimates there are at least 2.3 million people with precarious immigration status who are at risk of being expelled from Canada—especially as a result of immigration changes announced recently.

People without immigration status are sometimes referred to as undocumented people.

Undocumented people are our friends, partners, neighbours, family, and coworkers. They care for our children, build our homes, and deliver our food. Their lack of status makes them vulnerable to exploitation, from unfair wages to denial of healthcare.

Many have fled war, persecution, or severe economic hardship, only to face a precarious existence due to barriers to legal status. Immigrant communities and many civil society organizations and groups across Canada support regularization because they understand these hardships and empathize with those trapped by the unforgiving web of the immigration system.

At least seven municipalities across Canada, including Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, have adopted “sanctuary city” policies to provide services to people without status in a safe environment. Despite the limitations and shortcomings of these policies, they show that municipalities prefer to adopt a humanitarian approach rather than punish people for not having full immigration status. 

In December 2021, the federal government pledged it would explore ways to regularize immigration status for undocumented workers. No timeline was announced. It has been three years, and people without status are still waiting for the promised regularization initiative. 

The minister of immigration has said regularization makes sense from a humanitarian and economic perspective, but there is no consensus in the country or in government. In Canada, we are now once again seeing a backlash against immigration. Migrants are being unfairly blamed for economic and housing problems they did not create. The Minister has since said there will not be a broad regularization program and will instead look at regularizing a small number of migrant workers in specific industries. 

Workers of the Future

Among those without immigration status are migrant workers.

United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery Tomoya Obokata has called Canada’s temporary foreign workers program a “breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery” in his Final Canada Visit Report released on July 22, 2024.

The Special Rapporteur noted in his report that:

“Canada should end labour migration arrangements that foster exploitation by creating dependency situations that tie workers to their employers and give employers control over workers’ housing, healthcare, and migration status. The Special Rapporteur retains the view that the Temporary Foreign Worker Program serves as a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery, as it institutionalizes asymmetries of power that favour employers and prevent workers from exercising their rights.”

The Special Rapporteur also noted that despite being called “temporary,” these programs are in service of a permanent demand for labour. He recommended that Canada should provide workers with a pathway to permanent residence.

Migrant workers have called for a status regularization program and immigration status on arrival. They are supported by a broad range of advocates in these demands. 

At present, low-wage migrant workers are given only a closed work permit, which ties them to a single employer. That leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, such as unpaid wages, wrongful termination, abusive working conditions, sexual abuse, and more. Migrant workers and advocates have called for an open work permit that could give workers relatively more options and increased safety from exploitation.

In 2019, the federal government introduced Open Work Permits for Vulnerable Workers. The initiative allows immigration officers to issue open work permits to migrant workers in abusive situations. However, the program is a short-term solution to many problems and often forces workers back into abusive work situations.

Canada does have open work permits for migrant workers but only for those in high-skilled and often higher-paying occupations and their families. It is not provided in the Temporary Foreign Worker program, which exists primarily to supply employers with low-wage workers. The closed work permits benefit employers who have a preference for low-wage, temporary migrant workers, especially in industries such as agriculture and food processing.

Canada has been allowing employers to recruit more and more low-wage workers under the Temporary Foreign Worker program. Data from Employment and Social Development Canada shows that the numbers more than doubled from 2018 to 2023, starting from even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when the labour shortage was reportedly high. The highest number of permits were issued for general farm workers and nursery and greenhouse workers, as well as workers in food processing.

Migrant workers in Canada grow, pick, and package the food that Canadians see on their tables. They have also made Canada the world’s fifth-largest agricultural exporter. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada expects to meet a target of $95 billion in agriculture and agri-food exports by 2028. The accelerated recruitment of migrant workers for food and agriculture work is less about food security in Canada and more about food export.

The Future of Migration to Canada

It is deeply disturbing that Canada chooses to build its economy and allows businesses to profit by exploiting and abusing vulnerable workers from poorer countries.

Canada has massively grown its migrant worker program but has not ratified the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. The Convention is a companion declaration to the International Migrants Day proclamation. Various UN Committees and Special Rapporteurs have recommended that Canada should adopt the Convention.

It is time that Canada did all three: 

• Adopt the Convention
• Introduce a broad, inclusive and fair status regularization program
• Provide permanent residence on arrival for all migrant workers