TABLE 1.
An Estimate of the Number of Immigrants with Precarious Status in Canada
| Categories of precarious immigration status | Hard data and estimates |
|---|---|
| New immigrants (< 3 months) | 219,157a Canada, 37,575a Quebec (arrived in 2006) (Citizenship and Immigration Canada [CIC], 2007) |
| Refugee claimants | 21,380a Canada, 18,700a Quebec (newly arrived in 2006) (CIC, 2007) 37,513a Canada (undecided claims, December 2007) (IRBC, 2008) |
| Temporary foreign workers | 112,658a (annual entries 2006, all categories: foreign workers who are qualified or nonqualified, seasonal workers, and live-in caregivers) (CIC, 2007) |
| Victims of human trafficking | 600 to 800b, annually, plus 1,500 to 2,200b in transit to the United States (Government of Canada & Government of United States, 2006), or up to 16,000b in Canada (including arranged marriages, etc.) (estimates by a collective of nongovernmental organizations, cited in Gajic-Veljanoski & Stewart, 2007) |
| Persons from moratorium countries | 4,000 to 5,000b (estimates for 2000–2004, cumulative figures during the duration of moratoria) (Canadian Council for Refugees, 2005; French, 2008) |
| Persons shifting status | ?? |
| Undocumented migrants | 100,000 to 500,000b Canada, 20,000 to 50,000b Montreal (multiple written sources, personal communications, and unknown sources) |
a
Hard data.
b
Estimates.