Federal immigration detainees are held in jails in Alberta while going through immigration matters, but on Wednesday, the provincial government announced that it would be moving to change that practice.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has an agreement with Alberta that allows them to use provincial jails to house people being detained on immigration matters.
“The change comes in response to concerns about using correctional facilities to hold people who haven’t been charged with a criminal offence, nor convicted of one,” a press release from the province said.
The province first told the federal government it would be severing that agreement in September 2020, but the federal government has asked to extend the agreement twice, until March 31, 2023.
A letter from Alberta’s public safety minister Mike Ellis added another three months so the federal government and CBSA can have time to transition out of their current practices and find a new place to house the detainees.
“People who come to Canada for a fresh start and a new life deserve a better welcome than a jail cell while paperwork is sorted out,” said Ellis.
The CBSA policy is meant to balance the safety and security of Canadians with the physical and mental health and wellbeing of detainees, according to the National Immigration Detention Framework (NIDF).
The CBSA said newcomers can be detained if the officer suspects they could be a danger to society, involved in crime or the officer can’t verify their identity and needs to do further examination.
“An examination can be as simple as a few questions, but can also include an examination of the person’s personal belongings, more intensive questioning or personal searches,” reads the framework.
However, a researcher with Human Rights Watch said the vast majority of those detained are held because CBSA officers determine they are a flight risk and will not appear for an immigration or refugee hearing.
“This doesn’t mean that the individual in question has made indications that they will not appear or has not appeared in the past,” said Hanna Gros.
Under 10 per cent of the people detained are held because they are involved in crime or seen as a danger to society, according to Gros.
She said CBSA officers might take the visible presentation of mental health symptoms — appearing confused or disoriented — or a lack of strong ties to Canada as signs the immigrant may be a flight risk.
“The discretion to deprive people of their liberty under the immigration detention system is very broad,” Gros said. “It’s particularly broad considering deprivation of liberty is the most invasive action that a state can take against an individual.”
There are immigration holding centres (IHCs) in Laval, Que., Surrey, B.C., and Toronto. In areas that are not near an IHC, provincial correctional facilities are used — but Gros said the IHCs are designed like medium-security prisons.
She said Canada has no legislative limit to how long those detainees can be stuck in prison on immigration grounds, and that since 2016 more than 300 people have been detained for longer than a year. She noted that one person with “apparent mental health conditions” was held for 11 years.
The province said the current agreement to keep immigration detainees in jail was signed in 2006.
An average of 22 people per day were detained in this way in 2021-22, up from an average of 17 people per day in 2020-21, according to the province.
Ellis’ letter said the federal government has until June 30 to find new arrangements in provincial facilities for CBSA detainees.
Nova Scotia, B.C. and Manitoba have all made moves to sever similar agreements in the past year.