Canada Is Soft on Illegal Immigration; In Canada, There Is an Absence of Political and Partisan Debate on the Issues of Abuse of the Refugee System and Immigration Policy in General

Compared to other countries in the developed world, Canada is soft on illegal immigration. It is easier for an irregular migrant to secure permanent resident status in Canada than in any other developed country. In Canada, the primary policy system that accomplishes the transition from irregular migrant to resident status is the extended refugee policy system. An irregular migrant is “a person without legal status in a transit or host country owing to illegal entry or the expiry of his/her visa” (International Labour Organization, 2005), and the extended refugee system is the web of entry, determination, appeal, and removal institutions tasked with processing those who make a refugee claim in Canada. Aside from infrequent migrant amnesties, refugee systems are the primary gateway through which irregular migrants gain entrance to the developed world. Compared to other countries, the unparalleled generosity of the Canadian extended refugee system, along with the absence of disincentives to abuse, makes it undeniably attractive to status-seeking irregular migrants, and clearly stimulates what is described in other countries as abuse and illegal immigration.

However, in Canada, there is an absence of political and partisan debate on the issue of abuse of the refugee system. In fact, there is an absence of political and partisan debate on immigration policy in general. The reason for this lack of debate is connected to Canada’s self-image of multiculturalism, openness, and tolerance, which is used by partisan actors to gain electoral advantage. In this way, political actors can avoid the migration debate and remain unwilling to implement and sustain effective migration management instruments. Meanwhile, well-funded and well-organized advocacy and special interest groups connected to the immigration field work tirelessly to ensure that the government lives up to its pro-immigration rhetoric. The result is a maze of migration policies that merely regularizes the bulk of the irregular migrant influx. This has the political benefit of avoiding the contentious and difficult process of deporting large numbers of illegal immigrants.

--Stephen Gallagher, “Canada's Broken Refugee Policy System,” in Immigration  Policy and the Terrorist Threat in Canada and the United States, ed. Alexander Moens and Martin Collacott (Vancouver, BC: Fraser Institute, 2008), 53-54.