Living Illegally in Canada

"[Between] 20,000 and 500,000 persons [were living illegally in Canada. Known officially as] undocumented migrants, [these were foreign nationals with] no authorization to reside and/or work in  Canada."

"Some may have overstayed their temporary status, while others may have remained in Canada following a rejected asylum claim."

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 2023 report

 

"The vast majority leave voluntarily, and that's what's expected."

We are talking about 4.9 million documents, sometimes many that apply to one person. They are tourists."

"The vast majority of the people leave the country including artists who come to this country, such as Bruce Springsteen and others." 

(Then) Immigration Minister Marc Miller, 2024

 

"Canadians are fair-minded people. We welcome newcomers, we value immigration, and we understand that a growing country needs talent and ambition from around the world. But fairness cuts both ways. A system that welcomes newcomers must also enforce its own rules. When someone is in Canada illegally and then breaks the law, the response should be direct and decisive. They should be removed from the country. Not years later. Not after endless reviews. Promptly."

"This is not radical. It is common sense."

"Recent reporting out of British Columbia underscores the problem. Police there dismantled an organized extortion network targeting members of the South Asian business community. The crimes involved threats, violence, and fear used to extract money from business owners. According to police and court filings, several individuals charged in that case were either in Canada illegally or here on temporary student visas. The investigation revealed links to organized crime networks operating across borders, with some suspects lacking permanent legal status in Canada."

"This was not a paperwork issue. This was serious criminal conduct carried out by people who were not entitled to be here in the first place, or whose right to remain depended on obeying Canadian law."

"At the same time, Canadians are watching another disturbing pattern play out in Ontario. Individuals who entered the country illegally, had refugee claims rejected, or remained in Canada after their legal status expired, went on to face charges involving violence, extremism, and organized crime. These cases are not theoretical debates about policy. They involve real victims and real threats to public safety."

"The details differ, but the question is always the same. Why are people who have no legal right to remain in Canada still here after committing serious crimes."

"Canada’s immigration system is built on rules. We decide who qualifies to enter. We decide who qualifies to stay. We also decide the conditions under which those privileges are lost. If those rules are not enforced, the entire system loses credibility."

Kevin Klein, Winnipeg Sun

PHOTO CREDIT Ian Dewar

 

According to federal records at the start of 2025, 4.9 million visas would be expiring in the following 12 months, an issue that the federal opposition Conservative party expressed concern over, questioning how the Liberal government planned to react and respond to the situation of those living in Canada holding expired visas. The expectation optimistically held by the government that of those millions, the majority  would leave of their own volition, represents a notional number since there are no data kept on voluntary departures to support the government's response.

 

The issue of out-of-control population growth in Canada resulting from an unprecedented intake of new immigrants, refugee-class and undocumented migrants has been a concern for years, resulting from the previous Liberal government's open-doors policy enunciated by Justin Trudeau, the previous prime minister; essentially that Canada stood prepared to welcome all those seeking haven, as a response to the U.S. crackdown on illegal residents during the first Trump administration. 

 

That embrace of uncontrolled migration, immigration and foreign students studying in Canada has had predictable, but obviously government-agency-unanticipated results, impacting the social fabric of a country known for its 'multiculturalism'. Housing has become scarce and expensive. Social services are beginning to fray under new demands from a skyrocketing population base. The country's universal health care system is in peril with insufficient numbers of medical workers and hospitals stretched to their limits.

 

Moreover, multiculturalism itself has taken on a grim new meaning with growing-in-prevalence ethnic/religious/cultural groups bringing with them cultural biases including racism -- along with political and religious ideological beliefs that run counter to Canadian laws, rights and privileges. Statistics Canada has made note of a minor contraction in the population as 2025 closed, with "enforced removals" seeing an increase, despite no formal exit statistics being kept regarding foreign visa holders.

 

Migrants from Venezuela, Nigeria, Haïti and other countries arrive at Roxham Road to cross the border into Canada in early March 2023. Photo by Sebastien St-Jean/AFP via Getty Images

 

The Minister of Immigration noted in 2024 that the number of illegal foreigners living in Canada might be as high as 600,000. Yet the Conservatives confirmed a total of 4.9 million visas and immigration permits were on the cusp of expiring at year's end, 2025. A number, the Liberals responded, that included tourist visas, temporary work permits and foreign students. A record number of temporary migrants arrived on student visas, or as temporary foreign workers, visas that would not be renewed in a too-late government effort to control the upward spiral of an unprecedented population growth.

 

According to Statistics Canada, 3,138,129 temporary migrants were residing in Canada, over double the number of three years earlier. An influx unlike any other in Canada's history, resulting in Canada being  recognized as the fastest growing country in the G7...an "unprecedented surge in immigration"  comprised primarily of low-skilled migrants from the developing world, a far cry from the carefully paced and measured previous immigration protocol that favoured skilled workers into the Canadian economy.

 

Of the 1.5 million migrants who, following the end of COVID lockdowns surged into the country, an estimated 1.3 million remain in Canada. Canada Border Services Agency released statistics indicating that their officers were removing record rates of unauthorized foreign national, by the end of 2025, leading to records for "enforced removals", a category including deportations, along with foreigners who left after receiving a deportation order or were turned away from the border with an exclusion order. 

 

The Conservative contended that should even a relatively small number of the record-high temporary migrant population refuse to self-deport, the government had no capacity to remove them forcefully. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in October of 2025 informed a committee of the House of Commons that 47,175 individuals who entered Canada on student visas were "non-compliant"; in that they had failed to register at a university, and their locations were unknown.

 

Dozens of international students showed up at a park in Brampton, Ont., recently to fight to stay in Canada. (Submitted by Harinder Singh)

"By the end of this year, nearly five million people will be in Canada with expired or expiring visas, and the government has no plan for how it is going to get them to leave."

Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner

 

"We take our immigration system very seriously on this side of the aisle (Liberal), as I know all Canadians do."

"For that reason, we are strengthening the integrity of our system while maintaining the humanitarian ability that we have in this country."

Immigration Minister Lena Diab 

Since America is deporting them, some undocumented immigrants are looking to Canada as a backup option. Getty