Hundreds of people demonstrated in Montreal on Sunday to demand the legalization of the status of undocumented immigrants living in Canada. After promising to address this issue, the Canadian government is under pressure to act on the matter.
Almost a year ago, Ottawa said it was considering legalizing the status of these people, who number about 500,000 in the country.
Frustration was palpable during Sunday’s demonstration outside Immigration Minister Marc Miller’s office in Montreal. The federal government is very slow in developing a regularization program. It has been almost a year and a half since he promised to implement such a program and we here at Parc-Ex are beginning to see the consequences of this lack of action [un quartier de Montréal à forte proportion de nouveaux arrivants]said Amy Darwish, coordinator of the Parc-Extension Action Committee, a community organization that provides assistance to newcomers.
There are many tenants who cannot defend their rights, many people who find themselves in precarious jobs and do not have access to services, she added.
These undocumented people are also particularly affected by eviction proceedings because their lack of official status prevents them from turning to the courts. These people also fear possible reprisals if they report it, it is said.
Many of these 500,000 people without status still came to Canada legally, either to study or as temporary workers, before their permits expired.
As early as last March, several aid organizations reiterated that the Trudeau government wanted to solve this problem quickly, possibly by the summer. It is clear that a solution is still awaited.
With information from Charlotte Dumoulin