Canada needs an immigration system rooted in justice, not exploitation. This means rights—not permits that expire; inclusion—not exclusion. Migrants are not temporary or disposable. They are essential members of our communities and the backbone of our economy, care systems, and food supply. Ensuring permanent resident status for all migrants is not only a matter of basic fairness and equal rights—it is essential for achieving gender, racial, and economic justice.
We are calling on the new federal government under Prime Minister Carney to prioritize the following main changes below. Amplify our voice and demands by sending a letter to PM Carney now in support of this transformative agenda.
1. Reject migrant scapegoating and ensure rights and justice for all migrants
- Ensure permanent resident status for all migrants, including undocumented people.
- Halt the daily deportation of 3,000 people who had immigration rules changed after arriving: Extend permits for workers with expiring permits (2024–2027) who have been working and studying in Canada.
- Expand federal permanent residency levels.
- Value all work: Recognize all work – including gig, low-wage, part-time, seasonal, unpaid, and study permit work – toward permanent residence.
- Don’t discriminate against migrants based on age, education, or wage level.
- Remove job offer requirements that increase employer control.
- Guarantee dignity and safety for undocumented people by providing healthcare, work and study permits, and stopping deportations while their humanitarian applications are being processed.
2. Respect and protect care workers who care for our families
- Reopen the Home Care Worker Immigration Program, which was shut down after less than five hours.
- Expedite and ensure permanent residence for migrant and undocumented care workers, including home care workers, security guards, cleaners, and healthcare facility staff.
3. Secure status for construction workers building our homes and future
- Regularize and grant permanent resident status to all migrant and undocumented construction workers to help meet Canada’s housing targets.
4. Ensure status and rights for farm and food workers who feed us
- Ensure permanent residence for all migrant food sector workers—including those in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program, fish processing, aquaculture, and undocumented workers—who are essential to Canada’s food security.
- Reopen and expand the Agri-Food Immigration Program, and remove job offer, education, and language barriers.
- Implement enforceable national housing standards for migrant workers.
5. End employer control and ensure decent work and wages for migrants
- Eliminate tied work permits.
- Reject the “sector-specific” permit model and proposed increased wage deductions for temporary foreign workers.
- End hour and industry restrictions that create vulnerability (including the 24-hour work limit for students and exclusions for sex workers).
- Harmonize employment standards and regulate recruiters across provinces.
- Overhaul the Vulnerable Worker Open Work Permit to ensure real access and permanent status.
- Allow all international students, regardless of program or study length, to apply for post-graduate work permits.
- Ensure full access to unionization for all migrant workers.
- Improve access and adequacy of Employment Insurance (EI): Lower eligibility to 360 hours, raise benefit levels to 75% of previous earnings (with a $600/week minimum), and allow seasonal migrant workers to access EI while abroad.
6. Stop criminalizing and deporting people made undocumented by unjust laws
- End all immigration detention and deportations.
- End all partnerships between the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and federal or municipal agencies that lead to the criminalization of migrants.
7. Protect women, queer, and gender-diverse migrants and support families
- Ensure all migrants can live with their families: Prioritize family reunification and provide open work/study permits, healthcare, PR status, and federal benefits to spouses, children, and chosen family.
- Ensure equal rights and protections for migrant women, queer, and gender-diverse people who face higher risks of violence, exploitation, and punishment due to employer or spousal dependency, lack of healthcare, and immigration gaps.
8. Uphold refugee rights and fairness
- Expand the Government-Assisted Refugee Program.
- End the Canada–US Safe Third Country Agreement: The U.S. is not safe for refugees.
- Urgently expand and ensure resettlement of Sudanese and Palestinian refugees, as well as others escaping conflict, in coordination with their representative bodies.