Education and migrant rights advocates say they are deeply concerned by reports that children of undocumented workers are being denied the ability to attend school.
Concerns were brought forward at an Edmonton Public School Board meeting on Dec. 10 by two youths and members of the public.
Marco Luciano, director of migrant rights group Migrante Alberta, told CBC News children of undocumented workers being denied education is a long-standing issue.
“It’s the tip of the iceberg … and we are looking into it. At the moment … we think there’s more and more undocumented children,” said Luciano, who said the organization has been made aware of at least six children who have not been allowed to attend school.
Migrante Alberta launched the campaign Education 4 All two years ago to raise awareness among governments and policy-makers about the issue.
Luciano said the issue of precarity for migrant workers and those without status has worsened following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The federal government is scheduled to announce its planned permanent resident admissions for the next two years.
Researchers expect the government to reduce how many people it admits each year — down from about 485,000 in 2024.
WATCH | Advocates speak out against temporary foreign worker rollback:
Advocates have said bringing in temporary workers without a chance to attain permanent status puts them in a precarious position.
Temporary foreign workers can lose their status for a myriad of reasons with the journey of re-establishing status made difficult by the many bureaucratic loopholes of Canada’s immigration system, according to advocates.
Those without status are often shuffled between municipal, provincial and federal officials in an attempt to find a resolution to re-establishing status.
CBC spoke to two youths who said they are scared school authorities will pull them out of class for circumstances beyond their control after both their families became undocumented.
Dayana Rodriguez, 17, said having to deal with this situation as a teenager has been daunting.
“I feel like it’s been a long time since I felt really in a safe place, my hopes [for] me and my family, is to have our [permanent] residence and … not have to worry about this,” said Rodriguez, whose family came to Canada from Mexico for a safer life.
“That’s why you don’t see a lot of kids talking about it, because it’s really scary for us … even though it’s scary, I feel like I want to talk. For all those kids that cannot talk,” Rodriguez said.
For 12-year old Areana Capata, her two siblings were already pulled from school two years ago and Capata fears she is next.
“I really hope, that schools [allow] kids that aren’t legal in Canada, because it’s not their fault. They’re not criminals. Education is a right and every kid should have an education.”
Rodriguez and Capata shared their stories again during a public event held by Migrante Alberta and the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights on Dec. 18 which is International Migrants Day.
The CBC requested comment from the EPSB on the situation.
“Every school division in the province must abide by the provisions of the Education Act with respect to access to education,” wrote a spokesperson in an email.
In a response to the CBC, Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides noted school authorities are legally required to provide educational programming to children that are lawful residents.
“This means that we do not require school authorities to provide programming to children who do not have legal status in Alberta or in Canada,” he said.
“School authorities need documentation to make sure that children are legal residents in Alberta or in Canada, and to confirm that a student is the child of parents who are registering them in the respective school.”
The province directed the CBC to the school board regarding the number of children without legal status in Alberta or Canada who have tried to enrol in schools.
The CBC has requested further information from the school board on that number.
CBC News also requested comment from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada on the situation.
“While we cannot comment on individual cases due to privacy laws, depending on their immigration status, minors attending elementary or secondary schools in Canada have the right to study while in Canada,” a communications advisor with the federal department said in an email to CBC. “Not all of them require a study permit.”
‘I found it heartbreaking’
Luciano said the situation highlights how laws can hurt vulnerable communities instead of protect them.
“The definitions of legality or residency blur the lines and [are used] against these children,” he said. “Under the Charter or the Universal Declaration [of Human Rights], it is the right of a child to be educated, to go to school.”
Jacqueline Leighton is a registered psychologist who specializes in educational psychology at the University of Alberta’s faculty of education.
Leighton said hearing the first-hand accounts of the youth during the school board meeting was difficult.
“To be quite honest, I found it heartbreaking. I found it just shocking that children would not be able to attend school,” Leighton said.
“We know that children have rights. One of the main rights is the right to education. This is part of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,” Leighton said.
“Canada ratified this agreement in 1991 and we know that if you deny children early education, if we deny them education, they are essentially not going to be able to develop fully and be able to participate in society later on.”
A select number of schools across Canada have become sanctuary schools.
The New Westminster school district in B.C. approved a sanctuary schools policy in 2017.
The Central Okanagan school board also voted unanimously in 2022 to implement a policy that requires all schools across the district to act as sanctuaries for children who live in the district.
The policy states that schools must enrol students regardless of their immigration status, and cannot share information about them and their families to immigration authorities unless under a court order or permit border agents or other immigration officials to enter schools or other district facilities unless required by a judge.
When presented with the Alberta government’s response, both Luciano and Leighton said the laws need to be revisited.
“We need to actually appeal to something I would argue is bigger than the law — and that is the humanity of what we are doing,” Leighton said.
“Government officials know what’s right and what’s wrong, and I think what’s quote unquote ‘legal’ and what’s quote unquote ‘criminal,'” Luciano said.