Undocumented children and youth across Canada are facing growing uncertainty and fear as immigration processing delays stretch into decades, raising alarms among lawyers and advocates who say vulnerable minors are slipping through the cracks.
Youth without legal status say they feel anxious and hopeless about their futures as wait times balloon for permanent residence applications under Canada’s humanitarian and compassionate pathway — often the only option available to them. Legal experts warn that as delays grow, more young people risk losing what little legal status they have and being pushed underground.
Without status, undocumented youth may be barred from working legally, enrolling in many post-secondary institutions, or accessing health care. In some cases, they could face removal from Canada altogether.
People can become undocumented when temporary visas expire, when applications are denied, or when processing delays drag on for years, said Ottawa immigration lawyer Heather Neufeld. She notes the risk is especially acute for children.
“They face the risk of being deported before their humanitarian application is ever decided,” Neufeld said. “They could be removed from the only country they’ve ever known, the only place they’ve ever called home.”
Processing times for some immigration streams surged dramatically in October, with estimates stretching into decades for humanitarian permanent residence applications — a pathway meant to consider hardship and the best interests of children.
At the same time, lawyers say annual admission targets for the humanitarian stream have been slashed to unprecedented levels. Estimates earlier this year showed more than 55,000 applications already in the backlog. Yet federal plans indicate Canada will admit only 1,100 applicants next year, followed by 1,000 annually in 2027 and 2028.
“This program wasn’t broken,” Neufeld said. “It’s been broken suddenly by cutting admissions to a tiny number — unlike anything we’ve ever seen.”
The human toll is already visible. Anna, a 17-year-old high school student in Kingston, Ont., says she lives in constant fear of being uprooted. CBC is withholding her real name to protect her identity as a vulnerable minor.
Anna came to Canada as a toddler and later learned she had no legal status due to a complicated family situation. Although many of her relatives are Canadian citizens or permanent residents, she now lives apart from her family after those relationships broke down.
“It’s very stressful, not knowing you could just be removed at any point,” she said.
Anna applied for permanent residence through the humanitarian pathway in October with the help of a legal aid lawyer. At the time, the estimated wait was two years. Within weeks, it jumped to more than a decade.
“I was crying,” she recalled.
Despite the uncertainty, Anna is focused on finishing high school and hopes to attend nursing school. She says helping others — including performing CPR during an overdose emergency — has given her a sense of purpose.
“I want to do it properly,” she said.
Lawyers warn that without urgent changes, Canada risks creating a growing population of undocumented youth — young people raised in Canada whose education, skills and potential contributions are being lost to prolonged delays and policy bottlenecks.
