Feds to replace immigration detention facilities in Vancouver, Laval

The federal government announced Monday it is replacing inadequate immigration detention facilities in Vancouver and Laval, Que.

READ MORE: Goodale shows no sign of meeting demands of hunger-striking immigration detainees

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale announced the details of the projects during a visit to the aging Laval facility.

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A Red Cross investigation in 2014 found numerous shortcomings at facilities for immigrant detainees, including overcrowding and lack of mental health care.

READ MORE: Immigration detainees on hunger strike, request meeting with public safety minister

Newcomers are often held in provincial jails or police facilities alongside suspected gang members and violent offenders.

READ MORE: Feds to ‘dramatically reduce’ jailing of immigration detainees: Goodale

Later, Goodale will meet his Quebec counterpart and Montreal mayor Denis Coderre to reiterate the government’s $34-million commitment to a federal office of counter-radicalization.

Details on that long-awaited announcement will come at a later date.