Sanctuary Cities and Covid-19: The Case of Canada

Abstract

In Canada, urban centres have been especially hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and this public health crisis has generated particular risks for non-status and precarious migrants. Using official data and published research, this chapter explores how city sanctuary policies in Canada have addressed these pandemic risks and, more broadly, the future for Canadian sanctuary policies in the post-Covid-19 recovery. We highlight the specificities of sanctuary policies in the Canadian context and document that while cities have not rescinded these interventions during the pandemic, they also have not built on them when developing COVID-19 responses for urban residents. We propose that this demonstrates the need to maintain pressure for reforms that increase the resources and capacities of cities in Canada so that they can be in a better position to implement and institutionalise policies for non-status and precarious migrants.

Challenges of undocumented immigrants in Canada and the USA during the COVID-19 pandemic: a review

“…For instance, in addition to family and humanitarianism, Canada’s selective migration policy is based on individual human capital (Picot et al , 2016), whereas that of the USA uses market-oriented and demand-driven approaches (Papademetriou and Hooper, 2019). Undocumented migrants’ immigration statuses, coupled with other intersections of age, gender, economic status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and educational background, place these migrants at greater vulnerability (Diaz et al , 2017; Bauder and Godoy, 2020), especially in uncertain times, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (Mukumbang, 2021; Paquet et al , 2022).…”

Montreal’s Sanctuary Policy for Non-Status Migrants: Opportunity and Obstacles

“…Access of all city residents, including non-status migrants, to fundamental rights and basic services, is considered a matter of justice and a principle to be implemented for the greater good of the city (Ridgley, 2008, p. 56). Accordingly, the mere fact of residing in a city entitles inhabitants to certain rights and services (Paquet et al, 2021). However, sanctuary city policies are in tension with the primacy of the federal or central government's jurisdiction in managing borders and regulating immigration and citizenship policy.…”