'I am not a criminal': Calls for government to give permanent residency to migrants in limbo

CTV National News: Fighting for migrant rights Rallies across Canada are demanding full, permanent immigration status for 500,000 undocumented people. Bill Fortier reports.

Thousands across Canada are calling for the government to live up to a commitment to give permanent residency status to people living in limbo in the country.

In Toronto, demonstrators marched Sunday to the downtown constituency office of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, chanting, "What do we want? Status for all! When do we want it? Now!"

They covered her office door with posters calling for immediate permanent residency status for all undocumented migrants in Canada and those with a "temporary" status.

A similar protest took place there — and in other cities across the country — in September as well.

"Each day that passes, people are being deported," Syed Hussan, with Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, told CTV News on Sunday. "Each day that passes, people are falling sick without health care and some are dying."

It's an unstable existence, one that Caroline Michael knows all too well.

She fled the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Nigeria in 2018 and began working in Canada on a work permit that's since expired.

She's tried to get her permanent residency or renew her work permit, but roadblocks on all avenues mean that she's trapped in a sort of purgatory, unable to leave Canada or properly live in the country.

It's a "terrible situation," she told CTV News. "It has affected me negatively."

She applied to college, but even though she got in to several colleges, they told her she wasn't actually allowed to attend them without permanent residency status.

And although she works in health care, having gotten her current job while on her original work permit, it's a service she can't use herself since she's undocumented.

"I have no access to health care," Michael said.

Through her work, she's doing what she knows how to do best, she said. "Putting a smile on the faces of Canadians.

"And yet, I don't get the same smile in return."

The Migrant Rights Network estimates there are 1.2 million people on temporary residency status in Canada.

The federal government estimates there could be up to half a million undocumented migrants in the country.

Those who are undocumented occupy a precarious position, as speaking up about the barriers to permanent residency can expose them to job loss or even deportation.

Michael has previously had to flee her house and find a place to hide out in Ontario because of the risk of getting deported.

"It's depressing," she said.

However, she said she doesn't want to hide her identity.

"I decided to speak because I am not a criminal," she said. "I am just this person who came to a country who wanted a better life, so to say, or for a purpose."

"You know, people are here, they're working, they're living as part of our communities," Chris Gallaway, a local organizer in Edmonton told CTV News. "And we should ensure they have access to the health care they need."

Ten months ago, in a mandate letter, the prime minister asked Immigration Minister Sean Fraser to "further explore ways of regularizing status for undocumented workers who are contributing to Canadian communities."

"So far, we're not seeing that action," Gallaway said.

In Montreal, a demand for immediate permanent residency was taped to the prime minister's constituency offices this weekend.

"Being accepted by that program would mean that you're finally at least part of this society fully," Aboubacar Kane, who is seeking permanent residency, told CTV News in Montreal.

The immigration minister's office sent CTV News a statement on Sunday, saying the work is underway, but still, there's no exact timeline that has been provider publicly.