Sudbury rally calls for permanent resident status for undocumented people

On Monday, there was another rally in downtown Sudbury calling to support equal status for everyone.

The Sudbury Workers Education and Advocacy Centre held the event outside Sudbury MP Viviane Lapointe's office on Cedar Street to highlight the challenges facing people who are not permanent residents of Canada.

The rally was to call for equal status for people when they arrive in Canada, including international students, migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented people.

Shensi Zhang emigrated from China three years ago and recently became a permanent resident of Canada.

Zhang told CTV News she came here as an international student and has faced many challenges.

"For example, for international students, we are eligible to work for 20 hours per week, but not other people, like local people, when we are here paying three or four times more tuition fees," she said.

Scott Florence, the executive director of the Sudbury Workers Education & Advocacy Centre, said there is a push to create a regularization program and the only answer is to give everyone in Canada residency status.

"Without status for all, we have people here in Canada who are treated differently and unequally and it's a human rights violation. People are treated differently based on their country of origin," Florence said.

Another organizer of the rally, TT Scott, said the challenges newcomers face are troubling.

"Things like living in fear of deportation, fear of being exploited by their work, by their employers, fear of not being able to make ends meet. Simple things like not being able to access healthcare, not being able to access education," said Scott, the centre's communications officer.

"They are not given the proper supports and resources that they actually need to move along."

Lapointe vows to bring the issues to the House of Commons.

"I will be advocating for them when I am in Ottawa. I continue to for advocate them. Immigration is very important. They have provided such tremendous service to our community and we certainly want to keep them here," the MP said.

The Sudbury Workers Education & Advocacy Centre is urging people to sign the Equal Rights For 1.7 Million People petition, which has more than 6,400 signatures at the time of publication.