PRESS RELEASE

Migrants unite to demand permanent status for all in Canada and an end to the Safe Third Country Agreement

Tiohtià:ke (Montreal), February 7, 2026 - The migrant justice network Solidarity Across Borders (SAB) is organizing a rally today, Saturday, February 7, at 12:30 p.m. in front of the CBSA and IRCC offices at 1010 Saint-Antoine Street West, bringing together undocumented people, students who have lost access to the PEQ program, rejected asylum seekers facing deportation, and temporary workers who will no longer be able to obtain permanent residence. The rally will demand an inclusive regularization program and permanent residence for all people without status and with precarious status in Canada, as well as an end to the Safe Third Country Agreement.  

Aboubacar Kane, spokesperson for SAB, declares: "While the fight against ICE draws the world's attention to the inhumane border control system in the United States, we also want to denounce Canada's migration policies. The anti-migrant climate in Canada and Quebec, and the political measures taken by Legault and Carney, are having a devastating impact on migrants in Canada and the United States. These measures are increasing the precarity of migrant and refugee communities and also increasing the number of undocumented and precarious-status migrants in Canada, in addition to closing the borders to migrants and refugees fleeing the United States."

In Canada, in 2025, 22,100 people were deported; this figure does not include those who had to leave because they were unable to renew their temporary status.  In addition, 32,800 refused refugees stayed, swelling the numbers of undocumented migrants in Canada. 

Farid, a spokesperson for SAB, declares: "While tens of thousands of people are currently undocumented and tens of thousands more will become undocumented because they cannot renew or extend their status, the massive regularization program recently announced by Spain exemplifies a political path that upholds the dignity of undocumented people. In December 2023, the Liberal government promised us a regularization program, which it then abandoned due to growing racism towards migrants. But it is never too late to do the right thing."

Kane adds: “Everyone can see that the United States is not a safe country for migrants and transgender people. Canada should open its borders to people who are in that country and have no safe options, not close them further with Bill C-12, which is currently before the Senate.”

Susana Ponte Rivera, a feminist organizer from the Immigrant Workers Center’s Women Committee, highlights the links between immigration status and decent working conditions: “An inclusive regularization program and the granting of permanent residence are the only solution to protect our members without status from the sexual harassment and violence they too often experience at work, and to ensure that their rights are respected in a lasting and tangible way.”

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Source :
Solidarity Across Borders (SAB)
solidaritesansfrontieres@gmail.org
www.solidaritesansfrontieres.org