Canada’s immigration detention system is governed by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (the Regulations) and the international human rights treaties ratified by the government. The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) is responsible for managing the detention process of foreign nationals and permanent residents, while the Immigration Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada reviews immigration detention decisions.
Canadian legal framework for immigration detention
The reasons for which a foreign national or permanent resident may be detained in Canada are set out in the IRPA, and include detention:
- upon entry into Canada, to complete an examination and confirm identity;
- for suspected inadmissibility on grounds of security, human rights violations or serious crimes;
- based on a reasonable belief that the person is a danger to the public; and
- based on doubt that they will appear for an examination, an admissibility hearing or a related legal proceeding.
The Regulations set out further factors to be considered when determining whether to detain an individual, including any past criminal convictions, links to organized crime, organized human smuggling or trafficking, or unwillingness to cooperate with government officials to establish their identity.
According to the CBSA’s recent data on persons detained, by ground for detention, most individuals are held for administrative reasons and pose no risk to the public.
When a person is detained, the Immigration Division reviews the grounds for detention within 48 hours and again within the next 7 days, then every subsequent period of 30 days. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms requires that a person subject to the IRPA’s detention review process has access to a meaningful and robust review that considers the context and circumstances of their individual case. Every person must have a real opportunity to challenge their detention. During the detention review, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, through designated officials, must demonstrate that there are reasons that continue to warrant detention. The Immigration Division may order the release of a foreign national and impose any conditions it deems necessary.
There is no limit to the period for which a person can be held in immigration detention. As shown in Table 1, in 2023–2024, a person held for immigration purposes was detained, on average, for 19 days. However, the median shows that, between 2012–2013 and 2023–2024, one half of immigration detainees were held for three days or less.
Table 1 – Number of Detentions as a Percentage of Entries and by Length of Detention
| Fiscal year | Entries by foreign nationals to Canada | Total persons detained | Persons in detention (daily average) | Detainees as a percentage of entries by foreign nationals to Canada | Detention days | Average length of detention (days) | Median length of detention (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–2013 | 27,412,327 | 8,742 | 539 | 0.032% | 194,249 | 22 | 3 |
| 2013–2014 | 28,371,259 | 7,720 | 538 | 0.027% | 194,017 | 25 | 3 |
| 2014–2015 | 29,938,646 | 6,786 | 497 | 0.021% | 178,498 | 26 | 4 |
| 2015–2016 | 31,940,610 | 6,602 | 451 | 0.019% | 164,449 | 25 | 3 |
| 2016–2017 | 33,873,180 | 6,268 | 364 | 0.023% | 130,538 | 21 | 3 |
| 2017–2018 | 35,668,185 | 8,355 | 333 | 0.024% | 119,712 | 14 | 2 |
| 2018–2019 | 36,145,370 | 8,781 | 342 | 0.027% | 121,709 | 14 | 1 |
| 2019–2020 | 33,083,807 | 8,825 | 326 | 0.027% | 115,559 | 14 | 1 |
| 2020–2021 | 2,980,674 | 1,607 | 134 | 0.054% | 48,284 | 30 | 8 |
| 2021–2022 | 7,438,684 | 3,054 | 183 | 0.041% | 65,612 | 22 | 3 |
| 2022–2023 | 22,968,934 | 5,251 | 237 | 0.023% | 84,258 | 17 | 2 |
| 2023–2024 | 30,712,332 | 4,929 | 260 | 0.016% | 93,004 | 19 | 3 |
Notes: All statistics related to the number of persons detained or the number of detentions include the total number of persons in detention at any time during the reporting period. The number may include individuals whose detention began before the reporting period and/or who were released during or after the reporting period.
The lower values for the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 fiscal years are due to heightened travel restrictions during the COVID‑19 pandemic.
Facilities used for detention include those of other law enforcement agencies (e.g., holding cells of Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachments, and of local and provincial police), and holding cells at Canada Border Services Agency ports of entry (POEs) and inland enforcement (IE) offices. Note that the holding cells of POEs, IE offices and other law enforcement agencies are used for very short periods only.
Source: Table prepared by the Library of Parliament using data obtained from Government of Canada, “Table 1.1 Detentions as a percentage of entries, by length of detention and by facility,” Annual detention statistics: 2012 to 2024
All individuals held for immigration purposes retain several rights, as shown in Figure 1. However, a 2021 report by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International reveals that persons held in immigration detention often face serious human rights violations.
Figure 1 – Specific Rights of Persons in Immigration Detention
Source: Figure prepared by the Library of Parliament using information obtained from Government of Canada, “Key detention principles and the rights of detained individuals,” Arrests, detentions and removals – Detentions
National Immigration Detention Framework
In 2016, the federal government announced the National Immigration Detention Framework (the Framework) to improve and standardize the CBSA’s approach to immigration detention. It followed a series of widely publicized reports of mistreatment and deaths in immigration holding centres (IHCs), especially in 2013 and 2016.
The Framework builds on the Global Strategy: Beyond Detention 2014–2019 by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and on Canada’s National Action Plan developed in 2014 by the federal government, the UNHCR and various stakeholders with the aim of ending the detention of children, ensuring that alternatives to detention are available and implemented, and improving the conditions of detention to meet international standards.
In its 2016 report on Canada’s progress under the global strategy, the UNHCR identified four key issues:
- the lack of a national policy on transfers from IHCs to provincial detention facilities;
- the commingling of immigration detainees (often without criminal antecedents) with persons convicted of criminal offences;
- prolonged detention periods without legal provisions that limit the length of detention; and
- the absence of a policy on the detention of minors.
In 2021, the CBSA issued new National Immigration Detention Standards which outline how to treat detained persons, including minors and other vulnerable persons.
National Directive for the Detention or Housing of Minors
In an effort to keep families together and to reduce the use of detention for minors, the CBSA introduced in 2018 the National Directive for the Detention or Housing of Minors to help CBSA officers make detention decisions that lead to better outcomes for minors.
In 2019–2020, the CBSA started counting minors being housed in immigration detention separately from minors being detained. A housed minor is not subject to a detention order and is free to remain at and return to the CBSA IHC, subject to the consent of their parent or legal guardian. Table 2 shows that in 2023–2024, a total of six minors were detained by CBSA, all of them unaccompanied, meaning they did not arrive in Canada with a family member (parent or guardian) or to join a family member. One half of them were held for two days or less.
Table 2 – Detention of Minors by Length of Detention
| Fiscal year | Total number of minors detained in a facility | Accompanied minors (by parent/guardian) | Unaccompanied minors | Average length of time in a facility (days) | Median length of time in a facility (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018–2019 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 2019–2020 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| 2020–2021 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021–2022 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| 2022–2023 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| 2023–2024 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
Notes: An accompanied minor is a foreign national or permanent resident who arrives in Canada accompanied by a responsible adult (parent or guardian). An unaccompanied minor is a foreign national or permanent resident who arrives in Canada unaccompanied by a responsible adult (parent or guardian) and who is not taken into that person’s care.
The lower values for the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 fiscal years are due to heightened travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The total number of minors in a facility includes all minors (foreign national, permanent residents and Canadian citizens). A Canadian citizen who is a minor cannot be detained; they may only be housed with a parent or guardian in an immigration detention facility in exceptional circumstances and only if it is in the best interests of that minor.
Source: Government of Canada, “Table 2.5: National overview of detained minors,” Annual detention statistics: 2012 to 2024.
Oversight
In 1999, the CBSA began working with the Canadian Red Cross to monitor conditions of detention and the treatment of immigration detainees in CBSA IHCs and other detention facilities. Also, the UNHCR undertook regular monitoring missions in all detention centres where persons under its mandate were being held. To ensure accountability and oversight, both organizations issued reports and provided recommendations on commingling, prolonged detention, use of solitary confinement, allegations of ill-treatment and access to complaint mechanisms.
In October 2024, Bill C-20, An Act establishing the Public Complaints and Review Commission and amending certain Acts and statutory instruments, received Royal Assent. It created the first-ever independent complaints and review body for the CBSA. In addition to providing an avenue for civilians to submit complaints, this commission will be able to conduct systemic reviews of the CBSA’s processes. Once the commission has been established, the CBSA will have to submit an annual report to Parliament documenting immigration detention incidents, as well as complaints and the results of those complaints.
Facilities used for detention
The CBSA detains foreign nationals or permanent residents in three IHCs in Canada. Two are operated by private third-party service contractors in Toronto, Ontario and Surrey, British Columbia, while the other is operated under a memorandum of understanding with Correctional Service Canada (CSC) in Laval, Quebec. All three centres have been retrofitted or relocated in the last five years to bring them in line with both medium-security facilities and national detention standards.
Until 2024, if persons held for immigration purposes were considered high risk or were detained in an area not served by an IHC, the CBSA would ask provincial partners to house them in prisons while minimizing the mixing of immigration detainees with persons being held on criminal charges.
End of partnership with provincial counterparts
Over the last three years, all 10 provincial governments have signalled their intention to no longer confine persons detained solely for immigration purposes in provincial correctional facilities. The last immigration detention agreement between the CBSA and a provincial government expires in September 2025.
The CBSA is currently working to increase its high-security holding capacity in IHCs. Meanwhile, it is developing an agreement for the temporary use of CSC space in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Quebec, to “house a small number of high-risk immigration detainees” in 2025. The CBSA will manage this IHC independently of CSC. With approximately 25 beds, the IHC will be separate from spaces in which federal inmates are detained.
During the 2023–2024 fiscal year, as shown in Table 1 above, only 0.016% of foreign nationals who entered Canada were detained, as follows:
- 70% were detained in IHCs;
- 17% were detained in provincial correctional facilities; and
- 13% were detained in other facilities, such as other law enforcement agencies’ facilities, and CBSA POE and IE holding cells.
As seen in Table 3 below, between 2012–2013 and 2023–2024, the proportion of persons detained in IHCs and other detention facilities increased by 10% and 5% respectively, while that of persons detained in provincial facilities decreased by almost 15%.
Table 3 – Detentions by Facility
| Fiscal year | Detentions in immigration holding centres | Detentions in immigration holding centres (percentage) | Detentions in provincial facilities | Detentions in provincial facilities (percentage) | Detentions in other facilities | Detentions in other facilities (percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–2013 | 6,128 | 61% | 3,070 | 31% | 781 | 8% |
| 2013–2014 | 5,369 | 61% | 2,738 | 31% | 725 | 8% |
| 2014–2015 | 4,486 | 57% | 2,510 | 32% | 828 | 11% |
| 2015–2016 | 4,385 | 57% | 2,361 | 31% | 955 | 12% |
| 2016–2017 | 4,248 | 59% | 2,041 | 28% | 971 | 13% |
| 2017–2018 | 6,609 | 71% | 1,831 | 20% | 831 | 9% |
| 2018–2019 | 7,212 | 69% | 1,679 | 16% | 1,622 | 15% |
| 2019–2020 | 7,064 | 68% | 1,932 | 19% | 1,359 | 13% |
| 2020–2021 | 901 | 47% | 786 | 40% | 245 | 13% |
| 2021–2022 | 2,254 | 65% | 819 | 23% | 413 | 12% |
| 2022–2023 | 4,191 | 72% | 930 | 16% | 715 | 12% |
| 2023–2024 | 4,040 | 70% | 716 | 17% | 944 | 13% |
Notes: All statistics related to the number of persons detained or the number of detentions include the total number of persons in detention at any time during the reporting period. The number may include individuals whose detention began before the reporting period and/or who were released during (or after) the reporting period.
The lower values for the fiscal years of 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 are due to the heightened travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other facilities include those of other law enforcement agencies (e.g., holding cells of Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachments, and of local and provincial police services), and holding cells at Canada Border Services Agency POEs and IE offices. Note that the holding cells of POEs, IE offices and other law enforcement agencies are used for very short periods only.
Source: Table prepared by the Library of Parliament using data obtained from Government of Canada, “Table 1.1 Detentions as a percentage of entries, by length of detention and by facility,” Annual detention statistics: 2012 to 2024.
In September 2024, the CBSA indicated that fewer than 30 high-risk persons were still being held in provincial correctional facilities.
In May 2022, a class action was brought against the Government of Canada on behalf of immigration detainees, alleging that their detention in provincial correctional facilities is unconstitutional and contrary to the domestic and international legal standards of care that Canada owes to the detainees. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice certified the class action, but the federal government has appealed that decision, according to a January 2025 news article.
Alternatives to detention
Over the last ten years, the CBSA’s Framework initiatives have led, among other things, to the expansion and enhancement of alternatives to detention. Tools and programs were developed to allow officers to more effectively release individuals into the community, for example, release on reporting conditions, an electronic monitoring system and a national Community Case Management and Supervision program that aligns community support services with the needs of individuals to mitigate any risk factors.
Further reading
Canadian Council for Refugees. Detention.
Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Chairperson Guideline 2: Detention, April 2021.
Keenan-Pelletier, Michaela and Ariel Shapiro. Legislative Summary of Bill C-20: An Act establishing the Public Complaints and Review Commission and amending certain Acts and statutory instruments, Publication No. 44-1-C20-E, Library of Parliament, 17 May 2024.
Silverman, Stephanie J. and Petra Molnar. Caged at the Border: Immigration detention and the denial of human rights to asylum seekers and other migrants, in Jean Quataert and Lora Wildenthal, eds., The Routledge History of Human Rights, 1st ed., 2019.
Stauffer, Brian. “I Didn’t Feel Like a Human in There.” Immigration Detention in Canada and its Impact on Mental Health, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, 17 June 2021.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Unlocking rights: towards ending immigration detention for asylum-seekers and refugees, September 2024.
By Madalina Chesoi, Library of Parliament
Categories: Law, justice and rights, Social affairs and population