Removals Audit

Date: July 3, 2020
Classification: Unclassified
Fully releasable (ATIP)? Yes
Branch / Agency: IEB/CBSA

Proposed Response:

 If pressed on the number of removals:

If pressed on the number of removals during COVID-19:

Background:

It is anticipated the Auditor General of Canada (AG) will table her report on Removals on
July 8, 2020.

Overview of the Report

The AG’s audit of the CBSA’s removals program found that the Agency has not been doing enough to effectively remove individuals with enforceable orders, as well as find individuals whose whereabouts are unknown. The audit also determined that inadequate case management and poor data quality have contributed to the accumulation of the large number of enforceable cases that need to be actioned.

The AG’s overall findings fall into the following areas:

Based on these findings, the AG has recommended the Agency refine its removals strategy with better performance monitoring, improved case management and data quality, as well as explore ways to encourage individuals subject to removal to leave Canada voluntarily.

Currently, there are approximately 37,000 individuals who have failed to appear for their removal proceedings and whose whereabouts are unknown. Some of these individuals may have left Canada on their own and failed to notify the CBSA.

The expansion of the Entry/Exit program into the air mode, which was implemented on June 25, 2020, will help identify those that have departed. In the air mode, commercial air carriers are now required to provide the CBSA with electronic passenger manifests of every passenger and crew member travelling out of Canada on their aircraft. This exchange of biographic entry data permits the Agency to focus and prioritize immigration enforcement activities, such as ongoing criminal and immigration investigations, on persons still in Canada.  

Further, while the CBSA strives to conduct removals in a timely manner, all individuals are entitled to exhaust due process under the law in advance of the CBSA proceeding with removal. Once due process has been exhausted, the CBSA may still face other impediments to removal, including lack of travel documents or logistical challenges in arranging removals.

The CBSA’s priority for removals is on the small number of cases (approximately 2,800) involving criminality (i.e. security, organized crime, crimes against humanity, serious criminals, and failed irregular arrival refugee claimants).

CBSA Removals Process

As part of its enforcement of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), the CBSA has a statutory obligation to remove any foreign national that has been issued a removal order for violating the IRPA. Removals are an integral part of the CBSA’s security mandate.

The IRPA specifies that individuals may be inadmissible for any of the following reasons: security; crimes against humanity and war crimes; criminality; organized crime; risk to health of Canadians or excessive demand on health services; misrepresentation; inability to financially support yourself or your dependents; based on a family member’s inadmissibility, and non-compliance with the IRPA (e.g. overstaying the time you are permitted to remain in Canada).

Every foreign national ordered to be removed from Canada is entitled to due process before the law and all removal orders are subject to various levels of appeal. Foreign nationals have the right to file an application for leave and judicial review before the Federal Court, throughout the process, accompanied by a stay motion in the case of those facing imminent removal. Some Permanent Residents subject to a removal order also have a right of appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division of the IRB. Removals cannot be enforced until all pending legal avenues have been exhausted.

The CBSA prioritizes its removals based on a risk management regime:

In the 2018-2019 fiscal year, the CBSA removed 9,693 individuals from Canada; it removed 11,458 in the 2019-2020 fiscal year. These represent the highest removal numbers in the last four years for the Agency. As of June 30, 2020, the CBSA has removed 1,778 individuals for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, which has been impacted by a removal stoppage due to COVID-19.

Removals during COVID-19

On March 17, all scheduled removals were postponed and will continue to be suspended. However, exceptions may be considered on a case-by-case basis, particularly:

While the vast majority of removals are currently postponed, removals are still being administratively enforced as per regulatory changes that came into effect in 2018 (section 240(3)). When the CBSA receives adequate information that a foreign national has ‘self-deported’ or left Canada without confirming their departure, the removal order can be enforced within CBSA systems and the case is closed (meaning it no longer appears in removal inventories). This activity can be conducted by officers working from home in light of pandemic response measures and will contribute to additional removal statistics during the period of COVID-19 measures and contributes to the total number of cases recorded thus far in the 2020-21 fiscal year.

Contacts:

Approved by: Scott Harris, Vice-President, Intelligence and Enforcement Branch, 613-957-8328

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