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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Privy Council commissioned confidential research on whether Canadians would support citizenship for illegal immigrants, records show. Most, including legal immigrants, expressed stiff resistance to the idea.

The Trudeau government earlier proposed a federal program to offer former international students and rejected asylum claimants an application process to remain in Canada. No such program has been finalized.

The number of migrants living in Canada illegally is unknown, but an estimated 500,000 people could be in the country without status, according to an April 24 briefing note titled Undocumented Migrants.

Migrants who have lived in Canada for several years and those with children born here would qualify for the proposed “regularization” program.

Several Liberal MPs earlier expressed hesitancy with Cabinet providing illegal immigrants a pathway to permanent residency.

Researchers found stiff resistance against queue jumpers, including from legal immigrants who spent “many years” following the rules, reported Blacklock's Reporter. 

“Asked whether they felt ‘out of status’ workers residing in Canada should be provided with a pathway to permanent residency and citizenship... a large number did not believe any pathway to citizenship should be offered,” said the report, Continuous Qualitative Data Collection Of Canadians’ Views.

Among these, participants felt it would be unfair to those working to immigrate to Canada by following the official (and legal) process. 

“A number who had themselves immigrated to Canada by following official channels felt allowing ‘out of status’ workers this opportunity would be discouraging considering the many years it had taken them to acquire their permanent residency and citizenship,” said Canadians’ Views. 

The research followed a 2018 study by the Department of Immigration that similarly noted widespread resistance to preferential treatment for illegal immigrants. 

“We pass all the requirements to come here and they just walk in to Canada and Canada takes them in,” one foreign-born Canadian was quoted in the 2018 Qualitative And Quantitative Research About Newcomers And Immigrants. “I do not understand how people can just walk across the border.”

In 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau instructed then-immigration minister Sean Fraser to “further explore ways of regularizing status for undocumented workers who are contributing to Canadian communities.” 

Cabinet discussions remain ongoing, with potential legislation likely months away from introduction. 

Immigration Minister Marc Miller earlier said: “When you educate Canadians,” they are “more inclined” to support regularization.

In an interview with the NPR program Freakonomics, he went on to minimize the impact illegal immigration had on taxpayers. 

Room and board for migrants costs $224 per day, according to recent immigration data. By comparison, Old Age Security pays recipients $26 daily.

The typical hotel stays amounted to $140 per day, with food costing $84, reported Blacklock’s Reporter. Conservative MP Lianne Rood requested the figures.

Accommodating migrants “ensures [they] are treated with compassion and efficiency while preserving the integrity of the immigration system,” reads a cabinet inquiry.

The Budget Office in a 2018 report Costing Irregular Migration Across Canada’s Southern Border said federal expenses averaged $14,321 per illegal immigrant. Costs were as high as $33,700, depending on backlogs.

Room and board for illegal immigrants cost $769 million last year, according to December 7 testimony at the Senate national finance committee.

The total cost of illegal immigration for local authorities, school boards, food banks and charities has not been calculated. 

Minister Miller earlier cheered on Canada’s population for reaching 40 million. “This is about sustaining Canada,” he said. “That is not doable without people coming in from abroad.”

Illegal immigrants primarily entered Canada through Québec, but have also come through Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia.

In contrast, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told a French outlet last month that immigration numbers will be “much lower” if he becomes prime minister.

“It’s impossible to invite 1.2 million new people to Canada every year,” he said. “When you’re building 200,000 housing units, it’s impossible. There’s no room.”

The federal government has frozen annual immigration targets at 500,000 new permanent residents for 2026, in addition to slashing the number of international study permits. 

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