Immigration Minister Marc Miller has stated that there are no plans to grant residential status to undocumented migrants working in Canada on a broad scale.

He acknowledged the frustration of undocumented individuals contributing to the economy and potentially having Canadian children, but emphasized the need to be realistic about what is achievable. Despite the economic and humanitarian imperatives, Miller believes that Canadians are not ready for broad regularization of undocumented workers.

However, he is considering providing status to undocumented migrants in specific sectors such as health care and construction. The Liberal government had pledged to explore ways of regularizing status for undocumented workers, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not provided a timeline for this proposal. There is estimated to be between 300,000 and 600,000 undocumented people in Canada, and the government has faced pressure from migrant rights groups to follow through on the proposal to regularize the status of undocumented workers. Immigration has become a significant topic of political debate, particularly in relation to affordability issues like housing. A poll conducted in July found that 60% of respondents believe there are too many immigrants coming to Canada.

Miller announced plans to reduce the share of temporary residents in the population from 6.2% to five per cent by 2027, but he emphasized the need to be practical and realistic about achieving this goal. The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has stated that it will include measures to address the influx of temporary residents in the upcoming immigration levels plan.

This plan will expand to include both temporary resident arrivals and permanent resident arrivals and will be tabled in the fall following consultations with provincial and territorial counterparts and others. Despite the pressure to regularize the status of undocumented workers, the Canadian government is taking a cautious approach and emphasizing the need to be realistic about what can be achieved in a way that demonstrates capability to Canadians.

Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/undocumented-workers-residential-status-canada-1.7283115