Ottawa would navigate without compass in its desire to massively regularize the status of undocumented immigrants on its territory.
The mandate letter given to federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau upon his appointment in December 2021 directs him to “continue to explore ways to regularize the status of papers that contribute to Canadian communities”.
According to Radio-Canada, the federal government would like to initiate a massive regularization process this summer, but in Quebec, such a decision must be approved by the Legault government, which has the final say on the reception of newcomers under its powers in immigration.
“Between 20,000 and 500,000”
However, if the Quebec Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette, repeats that she is open to moving forward, she continues to demand figures which, it seems, do not exist.
“This is one of the things for which we are waiting for information. The only figures given to us at the federal level are that it concerns between 20,000 and 500,000 people (at the Canadian level). So, between that and not having an estimate, it’s the same thing, ”she dropped in a press scrum after an announcement in francization in Montreal on Tuesday.
The lines of communication are still open. “There were first contacts, first exchanges,” she said.
Mme Fréchette recognizes that it is not easy to have precise data in the case of undocumented migrants. “We are talking about people for whom we do not have a detailed knowledge of reality because they are people who work in a somewhat underground way, but we are still waiting to have a more precise estimate of what has milked in Quebec. »
In other words, the federal government has no more details to offer at the provincial level than it has at the pan-Canadian level and in the absence of an order of magnitude, the decision of Quebec becomes difficult to take.
An asset for society
However, there is no reluctance to welcome these potential new citizens, particularly in the context of a labor shortage, Minister Fréchette is quick to point out.
“These people are already here, they are active in a variety of economic sectors, so it will be part of the reflections to know a little more about who they are, who they are”, but for that, repeats t she, you have to know “how many are in Quebec”.
Most of the people designated as undocumented are people who entered Canada legally, but who lost their status, either through the expiry of a work permit or a visa. This category also includes refugee claimants who have been refused but are still in Canada for various reasons. In all cases, these are people who do not have authorization to reside or work in Canada, which excludes temporary workers and asylum seekers whose file is still under consideration.