TORONTO -- A new report decries Canada Border Services Agency's routine and frequent detention of foreigners in provincial jails.

Key Findings:

  • Even short-term immigration detention has a significant negative impact on mental health;
  • Detention causes psychological illness, trauma, depression, anxiety and aggression;
  • Indefinite detention is one of the most stressful aspects of immigration detention;
  • Detention can be particularly damaging to refugees, victims of torture or the mentally ill.

Key Recommendations:

  • Create an independent body/ombudsman to oversee and investigate the CBSA;
  • Enshrine in law the use of least restrictive measures against migrants;
  • Detention beyond 90 days should be unusual and subject to court oversight;
  • Take into account mental health and other vulnerabilities in detention reviews;
  • Detain migrants in dedicated, minimum-security facilities near community supports and their lawyers.