New policy aims to help migrants access City of Kitchener services

Kitchener is looking to help migrants without status access its city services, without fear of being deported.

Those could include refugees, temporary foreign workers with expired visas, or students with expired student visas.

The policy, called "Access Without Fear," was developed by the Safe and Health Advisory committee and approved unanimously by Kitchener city council on Monday.

In the motion, presented to council, staff said there are an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 non-status migrants living across Canada.

Under the new policy, they could access public services like day care, transit and access to libraries. 

Shelley Campagnola, the executive director of the Compass Refugee Centre, said many of the people they help are too afraid to ask for help.

"They are really in desperate kinds of situations," she explained. "Always afraid that someone is going to find out, and what does that mean for them, because they got found out in a negative way in their country of origin. So the trust level, that they are safe here, has now just been elevated by this decision by city council."

A public education campaign will be launched to raise awareness, and staff will work with the Community Coalition on Refugee and Immigrant Concerns (CCORIC) to help bring forward the policy.

"We will reach out to them and offer our support in orientation for the different municipal services and city staff, so that there's clarity for the service providers, so they're not going against any official regulations or laws in serving these populations," said CCORIC chair Mary Lou Roe.

It’s not yet clear when it will be fully developed, but advocates hope other cities in the region will adopt similar policies to help some of the most vulnerable residents in Waterloo Region.