There’s a few things here.
The government doesn’t actually know who’s illegal or legal unless they specifically check a physical person. It’s not like they maintain a list of “illegal” people. Your name gets recorded when you enter the country legally, but it’s not recorded when you leave. If you fail to leave, they don’t really know until they find you and match you to the entry. If you entered illegally, there’s no record at all.
Second, You could easily use a fake ID or fake identity to get a cellphone and the carriers wouldn’t give a shit as long as the bill gets paid. It doesn’t even have to be under your name, maybe it’s under your friend’s account.
Third, I’m not sure how prevalent this is, but you don’t need a “cell” phone to have a phone. A lot of poor people just have a device that can connect to WIFI, and make calls through an app or just message.
I think he’s referring to international citizens using the Canadian-US border to illegally enter, rather than Canadians themselves.
I’ve heard (through the news mind you) that there is some number of Indian nationals flying to Canada ostensibly for tourism because it’s easier for them to get a visa for that in Canada and then walking across the border.
As for the drug use, there is definitely a massive problem going on here, the drug overdose mortality rate in British Columbia was 45.7 per 100k, which is about 50% higher than California (but still lower than a dozen “bad” states)
We just don’t have quite as much violence associated with the drug trade, but there’s plenty of addicts and overdoses.