This is part of the story Welcome to CanadaA CBC News series about immigration told through the eyes of people who experienced it.
Monia Jess never imagined that her life in Canada would be like this, a paperless life in the shadows of society. But now she risks deportation for speaking out – part of an effort to expose an underground workforce vulnerable to exploitation and potentially growing.
“It's a nightmare,” she said. “I try to live day by day.”
The 36-year-old from Jamaica left her two sons behind to pick strawberries on a 90-day temporary work permit on a farm in Nova Scotia in 2021. Jess left the farm soon after arriving, because she says her employer refused to help her get medical treatment for work-related pain.
“It's hard work,” she said. “You must bend your knees, you must bow your head.”
Because her ability to work in Canada was tied to her work on a farm, when Jess moved to Toronto and began working under the table for cash, she became one of the hundreds of thousands of undocumented people working in Canada's shadow economy. Although Canada's immigration minister has been asked to find ways to regularize the status for undocumented workers, public attitudes and the political realities surrounding immigration have changed, with undocumented people fearing deportation, with no health care and few protections from labor abuse.
There are an estimated 500,000 undocumented people living in Canada, contributing to an underground labor force that many do not want. CBC's Lyndsay Duncombe examines what it's like to live in constant fear of deportation, without health care and few protections from exploitation.
'You want to try to survive'
Over the past three years, Jess has worked as a cook, cleaner and personal support worker.
“Sometimes, they don't pay you minimum wage because you're undocumented. So you can't complain to anybody,” she said. “So you have to match what they have because you want to try to survive.”
Jess is currently undergoing tests for ovarian cancer. She worries that if she is diagnosed with the disease, she won't be able to get medical treatment in Canada because her undocumented status means she's not eligible for health care.
No one knows exactly how many undocumented people are living in Canada, but the federal government estimates that 500,000 people live and work in the shadows. The Migrant Workers Coalition for Change suggests there are at least as many, but notes The number could be higher Given the increase in temporary work and study permits issued in Canada.
A new CBC-commissioned survey finds that more than 80% of newcomers to Canada feel the federal government accepts 'too many immigrants' without proper planning.
“I think a lot of Canadians think this is an American problem,” said Irene Blomrad, co-director of the University of British Columbia's Center for Migration Studies.
She says she doesn't think people here “really grapple with the fact that we have members of the undocumented community living in our neighborhoods.”
Bloemraad says while there is some irregular entry at the border, most people stay undocumented in Canada longer than they are legally allowed to. People cannot return home after their asylum claim is rejected or they can stay beyond their temporary worker, visitor or student status.
She expects the number of undocumented people in Canada to increase because of the federal government's plans Reduce spaces for permanent residents and US President-elect Donald Trump's plan to deport undocumented people in that country. According to the Center for Migration Studies, there were approximately 11.7 million undocumented immigrants in the United States as of July 2023.
“I think it's definitely going to go up,” she said. “How much higher, we don't know.”
From the Shadows to the Spotlight
Akil Augustin lived in Canada for years without knowing he was undocumented.
He was born in Trinidad and Tobago in 1982, and his parents brought him to Toronto when he was four years old, to live with an aunt.
He realized something was wrong as a teenager when his friends started applying for jobs, and his older sister told him he couldn't legally apply for jobs.
present18:33The story of undocumented immigrants in Canada
There may be as many as half a million undocumented immigrants in Canada, living and working in the shadows of society. Some of those immigrants shared their stories with CBC's Lindsay Duncombe, from the challenges of daily life to the fight for legal status.
“I finally found out, I'm undocumented,” he said. “It's bad news, so it's scary. Your stomach drops a couple of floors.”
After that, Augustine lived in fear of exile, keeping his position a secret. He was especially worried about being stopped by the police or going to the hospital. He says one of the scariest moments was being home alone when he got sick with a bad flu.
“I was breathing, I couldn't breathe,” he said. “I knew I couldn't go to the doctor.”
It took a decade, but Augustine finally became a citizen in 2015. Lawyers he met through friends worked for free, and his Member of Parliament, former NDP leader Jack Layton, wrote a letter of support.
He obtained status under a section of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that grants permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
He describes his Canadian citizenship certificate as the most important thing he owns.
Augustine went on to become a courtside reporter and host for NBA TV Canada. His work earned him a championship ring during the Toronto Raptors' winning 2019 season.
“I can testify that if you bring a little kid from Trinidad who doesn't know much and raise him in Canada under the great education system and support system that we have, he can thrive and add things to our society. I know that.”
They are fighting for regularization
In 2021, federal Immigration Minister Mark Miller's mandate letter asked him to “explore ways to regularize status for undocumented workers.” This means providing a path to permanent residency status for people working without documents.
In 2023, the federal government expanded A pilot project in Toronto To provide 100 construction worker positions in that city. But the Citizenship and Immigration Minister admitted there was no plan to address the situation of millions of other undocumented people.
The Liberal government has announced major cuts to its immigration targets to “stabilize population growth and ease pressure on the housing market.” Canada will reduce the number of permanent residents from 500,000 to 395,000 in 2025, a 21 percent decrease.
“There is no consensus right now on what to do,” Miller told reporters in November.
Indeed, the minister said Canada was deporting people at what he described as a “historic high”.
In an email to CBC News, the Canada Border Services Agency said that in the most recent fiscal year, 15,392 people were removed from Canada for non-compliance with immigration regulations. Which is 6,000 more deportations than the previous year.
“We're very serious about it,” Miller said of the government's responsibility to deport undocumented people.
There is a sign that Canadians support sending people home. A A recent Leger poll was conducted for the Association for Canadian Studies 48 percent of Canadians believe mass deportations are necessary to stop illegal immigration. That's just one percentage point lower than the opinion found in the US in the same study.
Risk of deportation
In an effort to sway the government on deportations and regularize undocumented workers, Jess went public with her story in November at a press conference on Parliament Hill organized by the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.
He knows that going public risks deportation.
“There are a lot of people (out there) fighting for what I'm fighting for, regularization, equal rights,” she said. “All men deserve to live as men.”
Life in Canada is difficult for Jess, who says she experienced racial discrimination, including a man on a bus telling her to go back to where she came from. She also says that the house where she lives is infested with rats and raccoons.
But she says she lives to send money to her children, who are now 16 and seven.
“If I don't try, who will?”
