'Immigrants are the scapegoat': Advocates for undocumented migrants, temporary residents hold Montreal protest

Montreal demonstration for undocumented migrants Undocumented migrants, temporary residents were on the picket line in Montreal drawing attention to precarious working conditions.

Across Canada, many undocumented migrants, temporary residents, and workers were on picket lines Wednesday.

In Quebec, the province is currently home to more than half a million of temporary residents, including many who say their lives are in limbo.

They say shifting government policies are leaving them vulnerable to abusive working conditions.

"We have victims of [human trafficking] and now we are victims of the [immigration system]. So, we have no rights here about their work," said Octavio Guerrero, a temporary foreign worker from Mexico.

Many of them work in low-paying warehouse jobs, where their work permits depend entirely on the goodwill of their employer. Some were welcomed during the COVID-19 pandemic to compensate for an important shortage of nursing staff, but they now feel completely disposable.

The workers also worry about cuts in Quebec's French-language integration programs, which would prevent many workers from adapting to life in the province. It's a consequence, some say, of the federal government's apparent scapegoating of immigrants to explain social and economic issues.

"Immigrants are the scapegoat for everything these days. And it's interesting because I think we found articles dating from, like, the 1970s or 1980s talking about a housing crisis in Montreal, but suddenly in 2024, the housing crisis is the fault of immigrants," said Claire Launay, an immigration activist.

"Same thing with the health-care system or the educational system. We say they're overrun because we have too many immigrants."

Their worry is that this form of scapegoating will likely become central to Canada's next federal election campaign.