Canadian border authorities struggle to detain foreign nationals with criminal convictions, CBSA says

A patch is seen on the shoulder of a Canada Border Services Agency officer's uniform in Tsawwassen, B.C., Friday, Dec. 16, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Nearly 600 foreign nationals with criminal convictions are evading Canadian authorities, with more than half of them on the Canadian Border Services Agency’s (CBSA) “wanted” list while avoiding removal for more than three years, CTV News has confirmed.

According to the CBSA, 1,635 foreign nationals with criminal records were facing removal orders, as of mid-July. Of those, 599 — more than a third — have failed to appear for a scheduled removal proceeding, with whereabouts unknown.

More than 70 per cent of the missing individuals have been convicted of “serious criminality” in Canada. Serious criminality includes convictions punishable by a minimum of six months and maximum of 10 years in prison for a crime committed in Canada. Those could include anything from aggravated sexual assault to robbery, as well as hybrid offences, such as ones involving impaired driving or distributing cannabis to minors.

“The CBSA has an obligation to remove individuals under enforceable removal orders as soon as possible to ensure the protection and safety of Canada and the Canadian public,” wrote CBSA spokesperson Luke Reimer in an email to CTV News, after the figures were reported in the Globe and Mail. “To support this, the Agency prioritizes cases for removal based on a risk management regime.”

The CBSA wanted inventory lists cases in which removal orders have been issued, but the foreign national is evading Canadian authorities and deportation. While 193 cases have been on the list for less than a year, 45 have been on the list for one-to-two years, 46 cases for two-to-three years, and 315 for more than three years.

“CBSA officers undertake proactive investigations to locate and arrest individuals subject to an immigration warrant. Investigations are prioritized, ensuring high-risk cases have the greatest number of resources,” Reimer wrote, adding the agency does regular reviews to track down wanted individuals or confirm whether they’ve left Canada.

“Individuals subject to immigration enforcement have incentive not to be found and may rely on family and community members to shelter them,” Reimer also wrote. “In addition, some individuals may resort to using alternate identities to avoid detection.”

Reimer said the CBSA prioritizes removals for cases “subject to a serious inadmissibility,” namely in instances of organized crime, human rights violations, or when the individual poses a security risk or has been convicted of a crime in Canada.

Order of priority for the agency then moves on to irregular migrant asylum seekers, such individuals who cross the border between ports of entry. They’re followed by failed refugee claimants, and finally, “all other immigration violations.”

In 2013, the federal government passed amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act — dubbed the Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act by the government at the time — to make it harder for foreign nationals and permanent residents convicted of “serious criminality” to review their inadmissibility to Canada.

“Deportation is often viewed as an administrative measure, separate from criminal punishment,” wrote immigration lawyer Yoann Axel Emian in an article for the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association. “Yet for many migrants in Canada, the consequences of a criminal conviction extend well beyond the sentence handed down in court.”

“A sentencing decision that might seem routine can result in removal from the country, sometimes to a place the individual has not lived since early childhood,” Emian added. “This legal and human reality places criminal court judges in a difficult position.”

Emian said the Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act was a “significant development,” removing the ability of foreign nationals and permanent residents to appeal a removal order after they’ve been convicted or completed their sentence.

The changes in the legislation “tighten the link between criminal convictions and removal from Canada,” Emian wrote.

“Despite this legislative change, sentencing judges have continued to grapple with the impact of deportation in their decisions,” Emian also wrote. “In some cases, they have found ways to challenge or mitigate these consequences.”

Reimer said the CBSA removed a record total 18,000 inadmissible people from Canada last year, with Canada’s Border Plan laying out a goal of 20,000 removals in the next two years.

The border plan was first announced last December in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs on Canadian goods if Canada doesn’t stop the flow of drugs and migrants over the border.

Also included in the plan, and in the government’s 2024 fall economic statement, is more funding for the CBSA, to be used in part on boosting immigration investigations, Reimer said.