Temporary foreign workers from Mexico plant strawberries on a farm in Mirabel, Que., on May , 2020. The work permits of millions of temporary residents will expire this year.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press

It’s not just on the streets of Minneapolis: If you live in a Canadian city, you are surrounded by undocumented migrants trying to avoid the authorities. They are hidden in plain sight: at work on virtually any construction site or renovation job in Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal; in hospitals and elder-care facilities; in restaurant kitchens; and quite possibly in your house, cleaning and taking care of your kids.

You probably don’t know they’re “illegals,” and in many cases their employers don’t, either. That’s because most arrived at an airport with appropriate papers and completed applications, and lived here for years as legal residents under visas or work permits – especially the Temporary Foreign Worker permits that were used in huge numbers by provinces during the pandemic-recovery years.

Now those visas and permits are reaching their expiry dates, and they’re not being renewed. That’s going to multiply the numbers of undocumented migrants this year. While estimates have hovered around 200,000 to 500,000 for the last 20 years, some analyses suggest that there could be more than 2 million Canadian residents without papers by the end of the year.

Ottawa’s response, for the most part, has been to ask........

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