Last Updated On 7 January 2024, 11:59 AM EST (Toronto Time)

According to Immigration Minister Marc Miller, Ottawa is working on establishing a path to permanent residency (PR) for hundreds of thousands of people who have been living and working in Canada illegally for many years, starting with construction workers.

There is already an Out-of-Status Construction Workers Pilot Program running in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), but it only has an annual quota of 1,000 permanent residency spots.

Mr. Miller stated in an interview that he is getting ready to develop a “wide and comprehensive program” that would enable many people to apply for permanent residency even if they lack the necessary paperwork.

He said that between 300,000 and 600,000 people are thought to be living in the nation without proper documentation.

Many have been employed here for decades and have families, but because they do not have official status, they run the risk of being deported.

Those who legitimately entered Canada as foreign students or temporary workers and continued to stay after their visas expired would be among those listed.

In the spring, the minister added, he intends to submit a proposal to the cabinet that would permit undocumented foreign nationals to “regularize their status.” But he did admit that there might be a pushback to the policy.

“There isn’t a consensus in the nation regarding the regularization of individuals who are here and, in my opinion, ought to be Canadian,” he stated. “That is something that our nation needs to talk about more.”

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada Since shortly after the previous election, Canada has been debating the creation of a program for unauthorized workers.

In 2021, Sean Fraser, the previous immigration minister, was given a mandate by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to “further explore ways of regularizing status for undocumented workers who are contributing to Canadian communities.”

Mr. Miller proposed that anyone who does not possess appropriate documentation, even those who have recently arrived in Canada, would not be eligible to seek permanent status.

To address Canada’s lack of trained workers qualified to build homes, he did, however, say he intends to launch a scheme soon that will let construction workers residing in the country without legal status seek residency.

According to Mr. Miller, opening up a pathway for undocumented construction workers to settle in Canada would be a “good way to test the narrative” of the larger program he intends to submit to cabinet.

However, he said that he comprehends the feelings that some lawfully admitted immigrants may have toward those who they believe “got a pass.”

Regarding undocumented workers, he remarked, “These are people that are already here, already contributing and have kids.” “Numbers do agitate people, but the truth is that they already exist.”

He claimed that the inability of those who have been here for decades and had children to gain legal status “makes absolutely no sense.”

He went on to say that Canada needs to “tailor to the reality on the ground” and improve its immigration laws.

In order to maintain the integrity of Canada’s immigration system, Mr. Miller stated he intends to make more modifications, such as adjustments to the temporary foreign worker and international student programs.

In recent years, the federal government has increased its immigration goals. It declared last month that it would cap the annual admission of new permanent residents at 500,000 by 2026.

Recent surveys indicate that public support for the number of new entrants is declining, and some of those surveys have connected the problem to a lack of reasonably priced housing.

However, Mr. Miller noted that the underlying data indicates that support for immigration is still widespread.

“There is a broad consensus that Canada has done things correctly out of all the countries in the world,” he stated.

However, when we make mistakes in decisions and policies, it makes it easier for others to weaponize the problem.

Hard-right politicians that advocate anti-immigrant policies have witnessed an increase in support in a number of nations recently, including France, Hungary, and Germany.

Mr. Miller expressed his desire to prevent a recurrence of this in Canada.

He mentioned “the headwinds we’re seeing with countries that have a substantial influx of immigrants—a tendency and an ability to weaponize it” that are present throughout the world.

“It is my belief that the last thing our nation needs is for a well-known figure to make a foolish statement or to turn the immigration debate into a political campaign slogan,” he stated. “We observe the results in the nations where it occurs.”

“Adjusting our public policies to make sure we’re being smart about the type of people coming to this country and what they can contribute,” he added, is what he hopes to examine.

He went on to say that the federal immigration targets were the subject of “robust discussion on both ends of the spectrum” in the cabinet regarding whether to freeze, cut, or boost them further.

“It was generally agreed upon to stabilize it and examine how that looks and the pressures we still face over the next year,” he stated.

Mr. Miller asserted that immigrants are essential in fields like construction and healthcare.

“But once more, we simply need to exercise a little more caution in how we adjust these policies to the actual situation,” he remarked.

He increased the amount of money that foreign students must demonstrate they have in order to be eligible for study permits last week.

The number of people coming here should drastically decline as a result of the reform.

Mr. Miller expressed worry about the exploitation of overseas students by middlemen who charge thousands of dollars to assist them in applying to universities—sometimes low-quality institutions that produce graduates like “puppy mills”—for their support.

Following the discovery that they had entered Canada using fake college acceptance letters given by agents, some students have been threatened with deportation.

According to Mr. Miller, there are many different types of abuse, fraud being only one of them.

It happens in Canada as well as in the nations of origin. Additionally, it’s one that has been ignored for far too long.

Kamal Deep Singh, RCIC

Kamal Deep Singh, RCIC (Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant) licensed by CICC (formerly known as ICCRC) with member number R708618. He brings extensive knowledge of immigration law and new changes to rapidly evolving IRCC.