That’s a rather large range, no? This country really needs to do better. How can we fix an issue when we aren’t even sure of the facts?
Haster on
Unless they come and go by car wouldn’t it be pretty easy to know they’ve left?
VisualFix5870 on
They brewed, poured, then Ubered your Timmies to your house this morning while you took today off. That’s where they are.
GrassyTreesAndLakes on
Absolutely insane
no1SomeGuy on
Well, time to get started…take all visa entries for last 5 years that have expired and don’t have an easily confirmed PR or whatnot, start requesting updates from them, give them 3 months to provide it, and if nothing is provided…one way ticket out of this country.
gorschkov on
So unless I am mistaken, with the immigration numbers that the government approved for 2025 does that mean that Canada’s population should have decreased by roughly 10% in 2025, or do visa extensions not get included? What about the reported population decrease of 0.2%, that number does not seem to match the immigration data and expiring visas.
Crafty-Ad-9048 on
That’s a pretty hard/expensive stat to keep
RideauRaccoon on
Step one: track exits. Step two: see if this issue is worth worrying about.
In countries where I’ve had to get a visa to visit, I have never once overstayed, nor reported my exit. For all they know, I’m still there. The reason I’m *not* still there is because overstaying my visa means I can never visit again, and it becomes basically impossible to live there long-term, because I can’t earn money nor rent an apartment, or really do anything except hide in the shadows. Contrary to the increasingly-popular belief about foreigners, most do not want to break any rules. In fact, I’d argue that visa holders (and all immigrants, across the board) are more cognizant and respectful of rules than the average Canadian.
So: track exits. If, after a year, the number of non-exiting visa holders is 500,000, then sure, implement stricter enforcement. If it’s 5,000, that’s not worth the investment. Instead, increase the penalties for businesses hiring people without proper work permits, and watch certain industries like a hawk. Deporting people is costly for the state; instead, make the rule-breaking businesses pay, and the problem solves itself.
agent0731 on
Many countries do not keep a centralized record of exits because it’s redundant. it’s not some mandatory thing that Canada is falling behind on. Many rely on airline manifests and they’re generally pretty effective. The number of overstays has not generally justified the record-keeping itself, which would be far more costly. The opinion piece is trying to suggest that this should be viewed as some massive problem when in fact it is a nothingburger.
whyamisofakingdom on
This is a bit interesting for me. My step daughter visited Canada for 3 years. Before I have to pull a thousand daggers out of my back, she never got 1 cent of Canadian tax payer money.
One of the years she had a tourist work permit. She worked, got paid, paid taxes. Was never eligible for health care, paid for her own.
She left Canada in March back to her native country.
For whatever reason the Canadian government has decided that due to her low income in 2024 she is eligible for some low income rebate. They have sent 3 cheques to her. We don’t feel she is eligible as she doesn’t live here so the cheques have never been cashed. Just sitting in a file folder.
RampDog1 on
I guess now that we are no longer friends with the US, Canada should be initiating exit immigration. No need for a free undefended border.
TendieRetard on
r/manufacturingconsent for the police/surveillance state >>
krilew_ski on
Imagine if there was a way of removing all of them at once, what would that do to hospitals.
JCbfd on
Just one more piece of evidence showing how painfully incompetent the govt is. And will they do anything about this? Fuck no, that’s hard work and they are physically and mentally unable to do that.
Also did they hire those 1000 border enforcement officers yet?? Nope. Didn’t think so.
And y’all voted for the exact same party and put them in the exact same situation as before! Prentending like everything changed! Quit acting suprised your failures are hilarious at this point.
Lord_Asmodei on
Working illegally, most likely.
Euclidisthebomb on
To my best knowledge Canada does engage in some tracking and the results can be found at Stats Can – here is immigration, emigration – I ran the chart from Q3 2021 to Q3 2025:
I will leave it up to you all to interpret the data but one figure does jump out: in Q3 2025 the non-permanent resident outflow jumped significantly. One trend that stood out was that it increased every quarter in 2025. The trendline suggests when we have Q4 2025 statistics the outflow will have grown again: I am curious if it will exceed 500K.
IndependenceGood1835 on
Noone leaves. We have a country built largely on trust. And the amount of people who don’t have those values (for various reasons), is increasing too quickly to be assimilated.
Its not just about overstaying visas, even small stuff like obeying traffic laws, not drinking and driving, theft, bribes, not littering, or even as simple as respecting personal spce.
Our country has changed and will continue to change.
LemonPress50 on
Why have a census and not track metrics on visa holders and their exit? Try overstating your visa or stay on a warm tropical island, the US, or Australia.
AllThingsBeginWithNu on
What an embarrassment, what amateurs are running this country
22 Comments
>In 2023, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada estimated that between “20,000 and 500,000 persons” were [living illegally in Canada](https://archive.ph/o/6MPYh/https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/transparency/committees/cimm-oct-24-2023/regularizing-undocumented-workers.html).
That’s a rather large range, no? This country really needs to do better. How can we fix an issue when we aren’t even sure of the facts?
Unless they come and go by car wouldn’t it be pretty easy to know they’ve left?
They brewed, poured, then Ubered your Timmies to your house this morning while you took today off. That’s where they are.
Absolutely insane
Well, time to get started…take all visa entries for last 5 years that have expired and don’t have an easily confirmed PR or whatnot, start requesting updates from them, give them 3 months to provide it, and if nothing is provided…one way ticket out of this country.
So unless I am mistaken, with the immigration numbers that the government approved for 2025 does that mean that Canada’s population should have decreased by roughly 10% in 2025, or do visa extensions not get included? What about the reported population decrease of 0.2%, that number does not seem to match the immigration data and expiring visas.
That’s a pretty hard/expensive stat to keep
Step one: track exits. Step two: see if this issue is worth worrying about.
In countries where I’ve had to get a visa to visit, I have never once overstayed, nor reported my exit. For all they know, I’m still there. The reason I’m *not* still there is because overstaying my visa means I can never visit again, and it becomes basically impossible to live there long-term, because I can’t earn money nor rent an apartment, or really do anything except hide in the shadows. Contrary to the increasingly-popular belief about foreigners, most do not want to break any rules. In fact, I’d argue that visa holders (and all immigrants, across the board) are more cognizant and respectful of rules than the average Canadian.
So: track exits. If, after a year, the number of non-exiting visa holders is 500,000, then sure, implement stricter enforcement. If it’s 5,000, that’s not worth the investment. Instead, increase the penalties for businesses hiring people without proper work permits, and watch certain industries like a hawk. Deporting people is costly for the state; instead, make the rule-breaking businesses pay, and the problem solves itself.
Many countries do not keep a centralized record of exits because it’s redundant. it’s not some mandatory thing that Canada is falling behind on. Many rely on airline manifests and they’re generally pretty effective. The number of overstays has not generally justified the record-keeping itself, which would be far more costly. The opinion piece is trying to suggest that this should be viewed as some massive problem when in fact it is a nothingburger.
This is a bit interesting for me. My step daughter visited Canada for 3 years. Before I have to pull a thousand daggers out of my back, she never got 1 cent of Canadian tax payer money.
One of the years she had a tourist work permit. She worked, got paid, paid taxes. Was never eligible for health care, paid for her own.
She left Canada in March back to her native country.
For whatever reason the Canadian government has decided that due to her low income in 2024 she is eligible for some low income rebate. They have sent 3 cheques to her. We don’t feel she is eligible as she doesn’t live here so the cheques have never been cashed. Just sitting in a file folder.
I guess now that we are no longer friends with the US, Canada should be initiating exit immigration. No need for a free undefended border.
r/manufacturingconsent for the police/surveillance state >>
Imagine if there was a way of removing all of them at once, what would that do to hospitals.
Just one more piece of evidence showing how painfully incompetent the govt is. And will they do anything about this? Fuck no, that’s hard work and they are physically and mentally unable to do that.
Also did they hire those 1000 border enforcement officers yet?? Nope. Didn’t think so.
**Paywall bypass:** [https://www.archivebuttons.com/articles?article=https://nationalpost.com/opinion/where-are-expired-visa-holders-now](https://www.archivebuttons.com/articles?article=https://nationalpost.com/opinion/where-are-expired-visa-holders-now)
We need exit passport checks like the EU/UK.
And y’all voted for the exact same party and put them in the exact same situation as before! Prentending like everything changed! Quit acting suprised your failures are hilarious at this point.
Working illegally, most likely.
To my best knowledge Canada does engage in some tracking and the results can be found at Stats Can – here is immigration, emigration – I ran the chart from Q3 2021 to Q3 2025:
[https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1710004001&pickMembers%5B0%5D=1.1&cubeTimeFrame.startMonth=07&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=2021&cubeTimeFrame.endMonth=07&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2025&referencePeriods=20210701%2C20250701](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1710004001&pickMembers%5B0%5D=1.1&cubeTimeFrame.startMonth=07&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=2021&cubeTimeFrame.endMonth=07&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2025&referencePeriods=20210701%2C20250701)
I will leave it up to you all to interpret the data but one figure does jump out: in Q3 2025 the non-permanent resident outflow jumped significantly. One trend that stood out was that it increased every quarter in 2025. The trendline suggests when we have Q4 2025 statistics the outflow will have grown again: I am curious if it will exceed 500K.
Noone leaves. We have a country built largely on trust. And the amount of people who don’t have those values (for various reasons), is increasing too quickly to be assimilated.
Its not just about overstaying visas, even small stuff like obeying traffic laws, not drinking and driving, theft, bribes, not littering, or even as simple as respecting personal spce.
Our country has changed and will continue to change.
Why have a census and not track metrics on visa holders and their exit? Try overstating your visa or stay on a warm tropical island, the US, or Australia.
What an embarrassment, what amateurs are running this country