Thousands of migrants and their supporters were planning rallies in Canadian cities on Sunday to demand that Ottawa extend permanent status to undocumented people.
There will also be calls to quickly implement an inclusive regularization program for undocumented migrants – a long-standing demand that advocates say seems closer than ever to becoming a reality.
Syed Hussan, executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, said it was an opportune time for Ottawa to heed his group’s calls for greater access to basic rights for undocumented migrants in Canada.
“We have a historic opportunity right now to right a wrong that has gone on for many, many years,” he said by phone before heading to a scheduled afternoon rally in Toronto.
“We want to make sure that Parliament does not delay in any way.”
Ottawa launched a regularization program during the COVID-19 pandemic for asylum seekers who worked in the health sector. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has since expressed interest in expanding the initiative.
A December 2021 mandate letter asked Trudeau’s Minister of Immigration and Citizenship to “build on existing pilot programs to further explore ways to regularize the status of undocumented workers who contribute to Canadian communities.”
Hussan said the scheme should include all undocumented people and argued it should be a priority for the government as parliament prepares to return next week.
“Prime Minister Trudeau has already indicated that he wants to do the right thing. The question now is whether everyone will be included,” Hussan said.
“We believe equality is equality, any exclusion is discrimination, so every migrant or refugee worker, student and undocumented person should be included.”
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of an expanded regularization program for undocumented workers.
Hussan said he expects thousands of people to attend rallies and marches planned in 13 cities, including Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Vancouver, Fredericton and St. John’s, NL.
Similar days of nationwide protest have taken place over the issue of migrant status, but Hussan said Sunday’s event should be bigger as the cause’s momentum has grown in recent years.
This is partly due to the growing number of undocumented migrants organizing for more rights, he said, as well as a renewed focus on the inequalities they have faced in essential jobs during the pandemic.
He said calls for status and regularization would give undocumented workers in Canada the right to advocate for better working, learning and living conditions, as well as access to universal health care.
The measures would also give people greater labor mobility and improve working conditions, he said.
Caroline Michael, an undocumented health care worker in Toronto, joined calls for permanent status at a press conference hosted by the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change earlier this week.
She shared the challenges she faces as a refugee seeking to stay in Canada, being denied various requests and being asked to pay for health care services. She said her difficulties had affected her mental health, but she could not be absent from the hospital where she worked because of her status.
“I feel mentally trapped…I’m being held like someone in a prison,” she said. She called on Parliament to extend the status to all migrants, including herself and others who have worked on the front lines during COVID-19.
“I and others were absent during all the waves of the pandemic and were still working for the development of Canada. But we are not robots. We are humans, we are all human beings.”
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