Yes it is probably easier, but there really isn't a big reason for doing it in the first place. In other western/wealthy countries like the US, Australia, UK etc... the minimum wage is probably comparable to here. So an illegal worker here can probably have the same lifestyle as if they worked a similar job in their own country.
Compare that to a country like Thailand or China or something, where even a minimum wage job here is considerably better in pay than a similar job over there. So there is more risk for a visitor from those countries in Canada, to want to stay here and work.
Hard to find stats for Canada, but i imagine it would be similar to the USA. Here is a report on unauthorized immigrants currently residing in the USA: http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/ois_ill_pe_2010.pdf
After the neighboring countries at the top of the list like Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala... the top overseas country of residence for illegals in the USA is from Philippines. So for anyone questioning WHY a country like the Philippines has more strict rules for visiting Canada as opposed to other visa-exempt countries, well as i said it's due to historical stats and trends, as well as political and other reasons. Canada does not just make up random rules on a whim for deciding what counties to be more strict on. There are specific reasons behind it, and the rules are constantly changing.