Tiohtià:ke (Montreal), 7 March 2026 – Undocumented and precarious status migrants, along with their allies, united in a rally at Montreal City Hall today to demand that Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada make Montreal a sanctuary city.
Samira Jasmin, spokesperson for Solidarity Across Borders (SAB), stated: “Making Montreal a sanctuary city means allowing all Montrealers to feel protected, regardless of their status. It means allowing everyone access to housing, employment, healthcare, education, food banks, social assistance and unemployment support, and all forms of social and economic protection.”
Solidarity Across Borders also demands that the City of Montreal support the regularization of undocumented migrants and a permanent status for all precarious status migrants.
Dolores Chew, a member of Women of Diverse Origins (WDO), organizing a demonstration on March 8, explains: “On the eve of International Women’s Day, we are highlighting the particularly critical situation of undocumented and precarious migrant women. They are exposed to exploitation and abuse in their workplaces and lack access to healthcare and social assistance for their children. Fighting for women’s rights also means ensuring that the most vulnerable among us have access to services and support.”
Samira Jasmin adds: “Soraya is the first racialized woman from a migrant background to serve as mayor of Montreal. We have high expectations that she will adopt a strong and exemplary stance to protect the integrity and dignity of undocumented and precarious-status Montrealers. Beyond those affected by the PEQ, all migrants with precarious status, and particularly undocumented migrants, must receive the support of their city.”
Maka Ta, of the Defund the Police coalition, is clear on the main danger facing undocumented migrants: “Montreal must protect members of our communities from arrest, detention and deportation. While all kinds of state violence are being perpetrated against migrants in Canada, we demand a complete end to communication between the Montreal police (SPVM) and the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), which detains and deports migrants.”
In February 2017, the Denis Coderre administration, in response to Trump’s first term, declared Montreal to be a sanctuary city, without taking any concrete measures to ensure the safety of undocumented migrants. In December 2018, Valérie Plante’s administration stated that Montreal would never be a sanctuary city, asserting that it could not order the Montreal Police Service (SPVM) to ignore arrest warrants issued by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Nevertheless, her administration adopted measures aimed at improving the situation of undocumented Montrealers. However, as an investigation in January 2021 revealed, these measures are far from sufficient. In March 2024, an article confirmed that the SPVM continues to contact the CBSA to verify the immigration status of racialized Montrealers, although there has been a decrease in the number of calls in recent years.
