Undocumented in Canada, she's emerging from the shadows to fight for equal rights

This story is part of Welcome to Canada, a CBC News series about immigration told through the eyes of the people who have experienced it.

Monieya Jess never imagined her life in Canada would turn out like this, living undocumented, in the shadows of society. But now she's risking deportation by speaking out — part of an effort to expose an underground workforce that's vulnerable to exploitation and likely to grow. 

"It's a nightmare," she said. "I try to live day by day." 

The 36-year-old from Jamaica left two sons behind in 2021 to pick strawberries at a farm in Nova Scotia on a 90-day temporary work permit. Jess left the farm shortly after she arrived, because she says her employer refused to help her get medical treatment for pain related to her work. 

"It's hard work," she said. "You have to be on your knees, you have to bow down your head."

Because her ability to work in Canada was tied to her job at the farm, when Jess moved to Toronto and began to work under the table for cash, she became one of hundreds of thousands of undocumented people in Canada working in a shadow economy. Though Canada's immigration minister has been asked to explore ways of regularizing status for undocumented workers, public attitudes and political realities around immigration have shifted, leaving undocumented people in constant fear of deportation, with no health care and few protections from labour abuses.

In the past three years, Jess worked as a cook, a cleaner and a personal support worker.  

"Sometimes, they don't pay you minimum wage because you're undocumented. So you can't complain to anyone," she explained. "So you have to settle with whatever they have for you because you want to try to survive."

Jess is currently undergoing testing for ovarian cancer. She worries that if she's diagnosed with the disease, she won't be able to get medical treatment in Canada because her undocumented status means she's not eligible for health care.

No one really knows how many undocumented people are living in Canada, but the federal government estimates there could be 500,000 people living and working in the shadows. The Migrants Workers Alliance for Change suggests there are at least that many, but notes the number could be higher given the increase in temporary work and study permits issued in Canada.

"I think that most Canadians think this is an American problem," said Irene Bloemraad, co-director of the Centre for Migration Studies at the University of British Columbia. 

She says she doesn't think people here "have really grappled with the fact that there are undocumented community members living in our neighbourhoods"

Bloemraad says while there's some irregular entry at the border, most people become undocumented by staying in Canada longer than they're legally allowed. People may not return home after an asylum claim is denied or they may overstay their temporary worker, visitor or student statuses. 

She expects the number of undocumented people in Canada will grow due to the federal government's plan to reduce spots for permanent residents and U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's plan to deport undocumented people in that country. According to the Center for Migration Studies, there were around 11.7 million undocumented migrants in the U.S. as of July 2023.