Montreal group releases report on dangers facing immigrant women without status
Posted December 3, 2025 10:37 am.
Last Updated December 3, 2025 5:06 pm.
The Women’s Committee of the Centre for Immigrant Workers (CTTI) released a new report on Wednesday highlighting the harsh working and living conditions faced by immigrant women without legal status in Quebec.
“Women Without Status in Action: Working Conditions and Health” was unveiled at a press conference as part of the 12 Days of Action Against Violence Towards Women.
The committee says the findings expose a long-standing and largely invisible crisis affecting some of the province’s most vulnerable workers.
Long-standing risks for women without status
CTTI, which has supported migrant and immigrant women since 2000, says women without regular status face increased risks of violence, exploitation and discrimination.
Their undocumented status leaves them exposed to unpaid wages, workplace abuse, and chronic stress that can lead to long-term physical and mental health consequences. Many are separated from their families while serving as financial providers in Canada and abroad — “indispensable, yet invisible,” as one woman put it.
The report is the result of a five-year community-led research project conducted by women living with precarious or no immigration status.
Susana Ponte Rivera, a community organizer with CTTI’s Women’s Committee, said the project was designed to let undocumented women document their own realities.
“This project has lasted five years because it was a preparation period of course because since it is the women themselves with precarious status or without status that went to do the reach out,” she said. “The research was about the working conditions and the health of women without immigration status.”
Ponte Rivera said the committee decided to broaden the study to focus on health after two long-time members died in 2020.
“One of them died of breast cancer because she didn’t have of course access to preventive medicine and the other one died of an intestine disease but she had had two work accidents in the last year of her life,” she said. “Women without status are dying because they don’t have access to health care in Canada and we don’t think that all Canadians are aware of this.”
Key findings
The report presents several statistics showing high levels of violence and workplace exploitation:
- 42 per cent of women without status said they experienced sexual harassment at work
- 25 per cent reported being inappropriately touched on the job
- 25 per cent said they were always paid at least the minimum wage
- Over 50 per cent said they had experienced wage theft
- 73 per cent reported feeling sadness, depression or despair every day or almost every day in the past six months
Members of the Women’s Committee say the report is a call for recognition and safety for women who often remain out of public view. Several statements from participants underline the urgency of the issue.
“Immigrant status above all! We are not humans, we are not women,” one participant said.
“We carry Quebec on our shoulders, but no one carries our safety,” another added.
The committee says these voices reflect a system that relies on undocumented women’s labour in sectors such as domestic work, caregiving and cleaning, yet refuses to protect them. “Invisible to the government, indispensable in reality,” one woman said.
‘Women without status work here. They live here. They love here.’
Ponte Rivera said the report must serve as a wake-up call for governments at all levels.
“It is not normal that when people go to emergency the door is closed to them,” she said.
She recalled visiting a member named Lulu in hospital: “Administrative agents come into the room as she is sick every four or five hours to ask how she will pay for the fees. This is unacceptable.”
Her message to officials was direct: “Women without status work here. They live here. They love here. They help their neighbours here. They grow their children here. They have families here. They are essential to the society. They are essential to our communities. They need to have status. We want access to health care and a regularization program now.”
Fear of deportation intensifies the risk of violence
The report also highlights how precarious status increases the danger of gender-based violence. Ponte Rivera said one interview participant returned to an abusive partner because she feared being deported if she reported him.
“This is just one example but we know that in Quebec there are feminicides. We know that violence against women is an issue and it is even worse for women without status.”
Because of the threat of deportation, she added, “what woman without status will call their police to denounce what they are living? Of course they won’t because they will be deported. So this is totally unacceptable.”
Calls for policy change
The Women’s Committee is calling on police forces and governments in Quebec and Canada to end immigration status checks and stop collaboration with the Canada Border Services Agency.
Ponte Rivera noted that among the 72 women interviewed, most arrived in Canada with status but lost it through administrative issues. “No one should be penalized for that.”
She said racialized women are disproportionately targeted.
“Of course 99 per cent of people without status are racialized,” she said. “So there will be a higher risk of being stopped by the police. And then the police checks their immigration status. That is totally unacceptable.”
‘This project is not just a document — it is the voice of a movement’
CTTI members say they hope the findings serve as a catalyst for meaningful change. As one participant stated, “This project is not just a document — it is the voice of a movement.” Others emphasized the urgency of action: “We are not asking for pity, only dignity,” and “All women should have the same rights.”
The committee says it will continue pushing for regularization, access to health care and stronger protections for women living without immigration status.
“We carry Quebec on our shoulders,” one woman said. “But no one carries our safety.”
