The federal government aims to establish a program that provides a pathway to permanent residence for up to 500,000 immigrants working in Canada but without official status.

The program will have an unprecedented scope and will apply to people whose visas or work permits have expired, and those whose asylum applications may have been denied or blocked due to a stay on deportation to their country, according to Radio Canada.

A government source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Radio Canada: "We are exploring ways to regularize the status of people living in Canada in a precarious situation."

Up to 500,000 people may be eligible, according to the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. In the mandate letter sent to Immigration Minister Sean Fraser late last year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked Fraser to "continue exploring ways to regularize the status of undocumented workers who contribute to Canadian communities."

Immigration Ministry spokesperson Remi Larivière confirmed that work to complete this mandate is "underway" and that the ministry is consulting with academic researchers, experts, and industry advocates.

Larivière said ministry officials have contacted many advocacy groups in recent weeks and over the summer to consult with them about the program. Potential criteria and launch date remain unknown.

Hadi Ann, spokesperson for Montreal-based organization Solidarity Without Borders, said: "We hope for a comprehensive program that helps many people, but it is still vague." Although programs to regularize the status of immigrant groups have existed before, none of them covered so many people, said Rivka Augenfeld, a lifelong refugee advocate and former chair of the Coordination Table for Autonomous Workers and Immigrants, a working group of immigration organizations in Quebec.

Augenfeld said of the expected scope of the upcoming program, "It has never been seen before." But she warned that for the program to be effective, it will need "the will of a good minister as well as support from the prime minister." Temporary workers and asylum seekers will not be able to apply—including the thousands who crossed the Roxham Road in Lacolle, QC, an increasingly popular informal crossing point among immigrants entering Canada from the United States.

There is a significant backlog in processing asylum applications, meaning many people wait years before getting a chance to tell their story before an immigration and refugee board judge. Lisa Middlemiss, former president of the Canadian Bar Association, says that while the new program will be a positive step for people in precarious status who have lived and worked in the country for years, it may seem unfair to immigrants who have temporary status in Canada without the possibility of obtaining permanent residence.

Middlemiss said: "It is ambitious and interesting, but it may generate a lot of frustrations." Larivière, the ministry spokesperson, said Ottawa "will continue to support comprehensive immigration programs that meet Canada's economic needs and fuel our growth."

Edited by: Yusra Bamtraf