This project examines how precarious migrants—individuals who are trying to secure migration status in Canada, either for the first time or following temporary status—navigate daily life as “liminal” residents in the eyes of the state. It asks two key questions: (1) What pathways lead people to be out-of-status? (2) How do precarious migrants navigate work, housing, health care, education, and social life? The project builds on research challenging “legal” versus “illegal” binaries of migration by centering the pathways through which people become out-of-status. The project’s importance rests both in its potential to speak to a changing Canadian immigration landscape, and its potential to contribute to an international academic conversation around the experiences of undocumented immigrants. In terms of practical relevance, with narrowed pathways to permanent residence and roughly three million temporary residents living in Canada in 2025, even modest rates of visa overstaying will significantly expand the out-of-status population. In terms of theoretical contribution, much of the literature on undocumented migration centers on irregular migrants who cross borders, either into the US from Mexico, or into Europe across the Mediterranean. In Canada, most out-of-status people initially hold some sort of status before falling into liminality. This pathway likely affects their feelings of belonging, their participation in society, and their ability to navigate everyday life. Do prior experiences as ‘legal’ (albeit temporary or as a refugee claimant) make people more able to navigate challenges, or does it foster resentment and fear that undermines social cohesion and the feelings we associate with citizenship, such as trust, a sense of inclusion, belonging, etc.? This project may also offer an important corrective to the prevailing view that Canada provides a more supportive context of reception for immigrants than the US. Is Canada’s context of reception positive for undocumented immigrants?