Ottawa has no plans to give all undocumented workers residential status, minister says

Ottawa has no plans to broadly give residential status to undocumented migrants working in Canada, Immigration Minister Marc Miller says.

"As frustrating as that is to hear for people that are in a precarious position of being undocumented in Canada and are contributing to the economy — and perhaps kids that are Canadian — I think we have to be quite clear with Canadians and quite realistic about what's achievable," Miller told CBC News.

"Despite the economic imperative, despite the very humanitarian imperative that a broad regularization program presents, it is clear to me that Canadians are not there and that's just reality."

Reuters was the first to report the development.

Miller said he's still "actively considering" providing status to undocumented migrants working in certain sectors, such as health care and construction.

The Liberals pledged in late 2021 to "explore ways of regularizing status for undocumented workers who are contributing to Canadian communities." Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had no timeline for putting this proposal into effect.

Miller has estimated the number of undocumented people in Canada at somewhere between 300,000 and 600,000.

The government has been under pressure from groups representing migrants, including the Migrant Rights Network, which in May urged Miller to follow through on the government's proposal.

The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change says immigration announcements this year have only "worsened" the trend of "scapegoating" migrants in response to the affordability crisis.

"Minister Miller's comments show that our actions have convinced the government that regularizing our undocumented coworkers, neighbours and friends is the right thing to do. They are trying to back down, blaming rising xenophobia for their inaction on equal rights for undocumented people," Sarom Rho of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change told CBC News in an emailed statement.

"We will continue to demand that [Prime Minister] Trudeau and Immigration Minister Miller reject this racist division by ensuring permanent resident status for all the migrant and undocumented people who are essential to our economy and communities, and deliver on their anti-racist, pro-immigrant platform." 

Immigration more broadly has become a major point of political debate, especially as it relates to affordability issues like housing. A Leger poll conducted in July found 60 per cent of respondents said there are too many immigrants coming to Canada.

Miller announced in March that Ottawa would attempt to reduce temporary residents' share of the population from 6.2 per cent to five per cent by 2027.

"I think we have to be quite practical and realistic about whether we can achieve that in a way that demonstrates to Canadians that we're capable of doing that in the next year," he said.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said in a media statement earlier this month that the department will be including measures to address the influx of temporary residents in the upcoming immigration levels plan.

"The levels plan is expanding to include both temporary resident arrivals and permanent resident arrivals. It will be tabled in the fall following consultations with provincial and territorial counterparts and others as part of Canada's annual levels planning," the statement said.