Immigration Minister Mark Miller said Thursday that he is preparing a “major plan” to regularize some of the hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants living and working illegally in Canada.
In an interview with the English-language Globe and Mail, he said he plans to present a plan in the spring.
“The debate about the regularization of who is here and who, in my opinion, should be Canadian, is not unanimous in the country,” he declared.
“We need to have a big debate about this as a country,” he added.
According to him, 300,000 to 600,000 people live in the country irregularly, often for years and are at risk of deportation at any time.
The Globe and Mail reports that the new program includes people who have entered the country legally, are temporary workers or international students and are staying here after their visas expire.
In recent months, the government has held several meetings with associations protecting undocumented immigrants and community organizations to set up the regularization plan, which will be the most important in the country’s history.
Canada, with a population of 40 million, sees record population growth in 2022 driven by an influx of immigrants. Ottawa already plans to welcome 500,000 immigrants a year by 2025.
