Non-status

1. Canada relies on the labour of migrant workers including those with closed work permits under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and their family members, international students (“workers with temporary and precarious status”);
2. The number of workers with temporary and precarious status in Canada has been increasing steadily for two decades;
3. IRCC-funded services currently exclude workers with temporary and precarious status;
4. Workers with temporary and precarious status are not eligible for the vast majority of government-subsidized legal services;
5. Issues of exploitation and abuse of workers with temporary and precarious status are documented and systemic;
6. Systemic abuse in the recruitment and migration processes creates vulnerabilities for many workers with temporary and precarious status, and lack of access to services exacerbates vulnerabilities they may experience;
7. Workers with temporary and precarious status have limited to no access to subsidized legal services which they require when seeking recourse for abuse and exploitation;
8. The support needs of workers with temporary and precarious status vary according to a diversity of identities, including gender and sexual identity;
9. Economic and Social Development Canada is responsible jointly with IRCC for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and funds the Migrant Worker Support Program;
10. IRCC is responsible for issuing work permits under Canada’s temporary migration work and study programs;
11. CCR has long advocated for access to adequate services for refugees and migrants, including access to legal aid from competent legal professionals; (See Resolution 2 May 01 1999; Res. 1 June 01 2019).

1. It is estimated that the backlog of refugee claims at the IRB will be approximately 38,000 at the time Bill C 31 comes into effect,
2. This backlog will severely hamper the functioning of the new system,
3. These individuals will be denied access to the Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) and to consideration on Humanitarian and Compassionate grounds solely due to delays in processing their claims at the Immigration and Refugee Board, and
4. Canada and other jurisdictions have implemented regularization programs to eliminate backlogs prior to changes in the refugee determination system

1. Some provincial governments are refusing to provide social services, health services and benefits for Canadian children born to parents waiting for status;
2. These Canadian children face discriminatory and arbitrary treatment that is counter to their fundamental rights;

The CCR has adopted Resolution 12 of May 2001;

1. Immigrants and refugees with and without status have contributed to Canada's economic and social well-being throughout this country's history;
2. Canada is home to many immigrants and refugees who do not have permanent resident status;
3. These immigrants and refugees have come to Canada for a variety of reasons, including social problems, war, political persecution, family reunification and economic dislocation, often as a result of globalization and trade liberalization;
4. An increasingly restrictive Canadian immigration policy screens out all but a select few;
5. The Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement could create more non-status persons by forcing refugee claimants to turn to desperate measures in an attempt to reach their destinations;
6. Organizations such as the Vancouver Association of Chinese Canadians (VACC), le Comité d'action des sans statut, the Greater Toronto Home Builders' Association and STATUS (Campaign to regularize Non-Status Immigrants) recognize the struggles persons without status face here in Canada;
7. As members of the CCR, we are part of a progressive organization that is committed to the rights and protection of refugees in Canada and to the settlement of refugees and immigrants in Canada;

1. Undocumented/non-status immigrants and refugees who have been living without status in Canada have made and continue to make vital contributions to our society;
2. They have been denied access to basic social supports, health services and educational opportunities;
3. They are exploited and marginalized because of lack of status;
4. The rights of the children of undocumented/non-status immigrants and refugees, including those who are Canadian-born, are often violated and they and their parents have no recourse because they are fearful of being deported;
5. An increasingly restrictive Canadian immigration policy serves as a prohibitive barrier to equitable access to immigration to Canada;
6. In the past the Canadian Government has instituted special programs to regularize the status of such persons without status;
7. A just and humane solution must be sought to address the problem of the large numbers of undocumented/non-status immigrants and refugees in the country;

1. The CCR is committed by Resolution 1, May 2003 to working for a process of regularization of people without status;
2. The CCR has been working for many months on a proposal for regularization;

1. There are a large number of persons without status who have submitted different forms of requests to regularize their situation;
2. The main way to ask for a decision on humanitarian grounds or other grounds while a person is underground and the subject of an arrest warrant is to present themselves to the Canadian authorities;
3. People without status who present themselves to the Canadian authorities in order to regularize their status are often detained;

1. Law enforcement agencies have been widely known to engage in the practice of asking for the immigration status of detained and non-detained individuals;
2. There has been a CBSA presence during and after police raids;
3. It is widely known that racial profiling is an established practice of law enforcement agencies;