Abhishek Parmar has spent more than six years making Windsor-Essex his new home. But now he is one of the 2.1 million temporary residents who may have to leave Canada this year.
“I have never even thought of leaving this place,” he said. “And now, things are coming to an end. It is not a good feeling.”
The 25-year-old arrived in Windsor-Essex in 2019 from India to pursue mechanical engineering technology at St. Clair College. After having spent more than $80,000 on tuition and living expenses, Parmar said he landed a job at an automotive company in LaSalle. He filed for permanent residence (PR) in 2024 with an Ontario immigration pathway.
“Then the news of tariffs hit and I was laid off,” he said. “Then I worked in another automotive company in Windsor, and again, I was laid off after a couple of months because of tariffs.”
He found a similar role again, he said. But it meant his dreams of getting PR via the provincial immigration pathway fell through as it was linked to his employment.
“I completely lost everything regarding PR, on a whim,” he said. “It was heartbreaking.”
Parmar’s work permit expires mid-March. Now his plans of making Windsor his forever home, starting a business and buying his first house here are on hold.
Parmar is not alone.
According to the data shared by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), 1.49 million temporary residents had their permits expire last year. Another 1.4 million will expire this year, for a total of 2.9 million over two years. These do not include study permit or study permit extension holders.
Of those 1.4 million expiring this year, 55 per cent are due to expire by June alone.
IRCC says 395,000 spots were available for PR last year and another 380,000 this year. While some of those 2.9 million will get PR status, at least 2.1 million people will still be left with expired or expiring visas.
On Sunday, Parmar appeared for his English proficiency test, and like many other newcomers, he’s been working hard to learn French. He’s “overwhelmed,” he said, but he’s doing everything he can to achieve PR.
If nothing works out, Parmar said like his friends, he will go back to India and apply for PR from there. He’s also considering trying to get his work permit extended.
“Temporary residents in Canada must comply with the requirements under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and must leave Canada by the end of the period authorized for their stay,” IRCC said in an emailed statement.
“Having a temporary status does not guarantee that a person will eventually be accepted as a permanent resident.”
If someone is out of status, IRCC said, they may be able to apply to restore it. Foreign nationals have 90 days from the date they lose their temporary resident status to apply for restoration.
“Little is known about the undocumented population in Canada, and gathering data is very challenging as this population generally tries to stay undetected due to their fear of removal,” IRCC said.
“However, research indicates that there may be 200,000 to 500,000 undocumented migrants in Canada.”
IRCC said under the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan, PR admissions will remain below 1 per cent of the population after 2027, and the total number of temporary residents will be reduced to less than 5 per cent of the population by the end of 2027.
“Canada is regaining control of its immigration system in order to restore balance and sustainability, while continuing to meet its humanitarian commitments,” IRCC said.
Lou Janssen Dangzalan, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer, said IRCC is working on the assumption that people with expiring permits will return home.
“It assumes too much of a good faith behavior from everyone that everyone’s going to simply follow the rules as it is,” he said.
For the longest time, Dangzalan said, Canada was advertised as a place to get your PR easily. Now many who had sold all their assets back home, took out shark loans or incurred huge debts, may go undocumented.
Canada Border Services Agency numbers show Canada removed more than 18,000 people or nearly 400 per week in 2024-25 at the cost of $78 million. The majority were asylum seekers who were denied refugee status.
“It’s the canary in the coal mine. If you see people getting deported and you’re out of status, you might as well just leave yourself. But not everyone’s going to do that,” he said.
“Is it realistic to do that for 2.1 million? I don’t think so. From an administrative perspective, it is just impossible. This is going to be a very painful process.”
Dangzalan said not only will it be a tedious year for those with expiring or expired statuses, but also for a government with limited resources available for enforcement.
“There’s a human tragedy that comes with this…It’s going to get rougher before it gets better.”
From instances of foreign nationals forging their immigration documents to people going underground, expired permit holders are trying all straws to stay back, Dangzalan said.
“The fear of going home is colloquially called the walk of shame because a lot of people back home are depending on them,” he said.
“People are panicking now because they know that the walls are closing in. Their options are quite limited.”
Amanjit Kaur Verma, an immigration consultant and founder of Earnest Immigration in Windsor, agrees that the race for PR is competitive.
The number of people wanting PR has “exponentially increased,” she said.
“The math isn’t mathing right now. The numbers do not add up,” Verma said, noting the number of temporary residents applying for PR will only increase.
She said it’s unfortunate that many temporary residents were “sold the Canadian dream” and not made aware that “PR is a privilege.”
Verma said she is seeing “a humongous” need in Windsor-Essex from people with expiring permits.
“Ninety per cent of all my consultations right now are about PR strategy and about ways to extend my status,” she said.
Out of desperation, Verma said, many are considering going underground.
“I understand it’s out of a lack of options, but that is not really the right way to go forward,” she said. “That’s what we try to tell each one of our clients.”
She said IRCC should prioritize inland applicants.
“We need to recalibrate our policies to make sure people here who are willing and able to support our economy get the opportunity to do it the right way.”
