Star Editorial Board Wed., Sept. 7, 2022
They live and work in Canada’s shadow economy where their uncertain status makes them among the most vulnerable workers.
It was encouraging then to hear news that the federal government is examining ways to provide permanent residency to undocumented residents. As the Star reported last week, work is well underway on an initiative to bring some security to the immigration status for these individuals.
It would be a critical step forward for fairness and equity.
Let’s start with who are they. Most legally entered Canada on temporary permits but can no longer meet eligibility criteria, usually after overstaying their authorized stay.
They typically work in construction, agriculture, care giving and housekeeping. During the pandemic, many filled essential roles. The government acknowledges their status makes them vulnerable for abuse and exploitation in the workplace. Their precarious situation ensures their silence. They’re not likely to report abuse for fear of deportation. They have limited access to health care or social services. They are economically vulnerable, unable to move freely in the labour force to find better opportunities.
Many undocumented migrants workers have been in Canada for some time and are established in our communities, as parents of our children in schools, neighbours, churches and mosques, and even coworkers. All they lack is permanent residence.
The mandate letter given to Sean Fraser last December after he took over as federal minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, set out the expectation that he would explore “explore ways of regularizing status for undocumented workers.”
That follows a campaign by advocacy groups pressing the government to provide a pathway to residency for these workers. In a July policy brief, the Migrant Rights Network (MRN) said that regularizing undocumented individuals “reduces inequality and social exclusion.
“We experience insecure housing, abuse at work, poverty and fear. . . . Getting secure immigration status (Permanent Resident status) is the primary concern of most undocumented people. It is rightly seen as the most direct way to living a life of dignity and safety,” the brief stated.
A program now underway to provide residency status to construction workers in the Greater Toronto Area will provide some guidance on how to proceed with a bigger program. The MRN policy brief sets out a number of criteria it would like to see. It should, for example, extend to family members, It should be a permanent program and not time limited. It should not be not punish individuals for failing to comply with immigration law.
To be effective, regularization programs need to be “inclusive and comprehensive,” argue Peter Nyers, a professor of political science at McMaster University, and David Moffette, an associate professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa.
In an article published in The Conversation, they cautioned against a program that imposes a low cap on the number of permits or limiting the program to specific sectors. “This is a historic opportunity to tackle a long-standing problem and start rethinking our immigration and refugee model,” they wrote.
No doubt, any move to help them will be challenged by those unhappy about their legal status, arguing that we shouldn’t be helping lawbreakers. It’s worth stating again that the vast majority came here legally. Only a small number are thought to have unlawfully entered the country, the government says. Nor would a regularization plan be a blanket amnesty. There would be set criteria applicants would have to meet, such as years of residence in Canada and employment records.
We encourage the government to move forward on this front. We encourage policy-makers to take a generous approach and avoid arbitrary limits on who could apply. Given the perils they face, these residents are exactly the sort of people governments should be seeking to protect.