Internal government research to assess public opinion in Canada about extending the provision of citizenship to illegal immigrants found a significant number of respondents opposed to the idea.
Pollsters asked focus groups if they’d support citizenship for “out of status” or “undocumented” immigrants who have either overstayed their temporary visas or entered Canada illegally.
Participants expressed “a wide range of opinions,” according to the April 24 survey report, which was commissioned by the Privy Council and first obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.
While some believed there should be “a degree of flexibility” for those whose documentation had lapsed and were awaiting a new work or study permit, “a large number” did not believe they should be given citizenship, the report said. The participants said giving out-of-status workers citizenship would be unfair to those working to immigrate to Canada legally.
“A number who had themselves immigrated to Canada by following the official channels felt that allowing out-of-status workers this opportunity would be very discouraging considering the many years it had taken them to acquire their permanent residency and citizenship,” the report said.
Findings were drawn from focus groups that were commissioned under an $814,741 contract with The Strategic Counsel, a Toronto pollster. Canadians from Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Atlantic Canada were questioned for the survey.
Canada’s population has risen sharply in recent years due to record-high immigration levels. Statistics Canada estimated in March 2024 that the country’s population had surpassed 41 million less than one year after reaching 40 million.
The exact number of illegal immigrants can not be determined with certainty, but is estimated to be between 20,000 and 500,000 people, according to a federal immigration department briefing note from 2022. A January 2024 report from Statistics Canada estimated there were more than 2.6 million non-permanent residents in the country in 2023, with 328,898 being asylum claimants.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in May there needed to be a “pathway towards regularization and citizenship” for undocumented immigrants, while saying deportation proceedings needed to be sped up in other cases. Immigration Minister Marc Miller’s office said the same month it had plans to introduce a path to citizenship and deportation proposal.
The Liberal government pledged during the 2021 election campaign to reform its immigration programs to “explore ways of regularizing status for undocumented workers who are contributing to Canadian communities.” It has not provided a timeline for those reforms.
A recent Angus Reid poll in September found the number of Canadians concerned about immigration issues had quadrupled over the last two years, with 21 percent of Canadians saying immigration is one of the top issues facing the country.
