Lack of detention space could force CBSA to release detainees, internal memo warns

The Canada Border Security Agency is scrambling to find space to hold high-risk detainees that are set to be transferred from provincial jails in June.

The Canada Border Security Agency is scrambling to find space to hold high-risk detainees that are set to be transferred from provincial jails in June.

There are delays in retrofitting CBSA detention centres and training staff which may force the agency to release foreign nationals deemed a flight risk or a threat to public safety, or both.

The warning is spelled out in an internal memo sent out by the National Detention Contingency Task Force on March 20. In the document, obtained by CTV News, the task force explains how delays in expanding the CBSA’s immigration holding centres (IHC) combined with the termination of contracts limit its ability to detain dangerous persons.

In June, Quebec and Ontario will join seven other provinces and stop housing high risk detainees facing deportation. Newfoundland and Labrador has also announced that it will terminate its agreement with CBSA next year.

Infrastructure improvements to the Laval Immigration Holding Centre will not be complete until late 2024. The memo states this “will create a capacity gap in the CBSA’s detention capabilities, compromising the CBSA’s immigration enforcement continuum and increasing public safety and program integrity risks.”

To mitigate the risks of the temporary loss of detention capacity, the task force says it will evaluate each detainee case and limit detention only to individuals posing the highest public safety risk and release others.

In its memo, the agency recognizes its contingency plan “may result in higher rates of non-compliance.”