Canada’s immigration detention system disproportionately impacts individuals from African and Caribbean countries, according to a modern study released Tuesday. The report, compiled by researchers at the University of British Columbia and Toronto-based lawyers, found that in 2019, 68 per cent of those detained for 270 days or longer originated from those regions.
The study, based on Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) data and interviews with 50 detainees, their legal representatives, and service providers, reveals a stark disparity in detention lengths. While the average immigration detention period in 2019 was two weeks, the prolonged detentions of individuals from African and Caribbean nations raise concerns about systemic biases within the system.
Researchers found that racialized individuals, particularly Black men, experience the harshest conditions and face barriers to fair treatment and timely release. “For virtually every sort of individual that we interviewed … there was a consensus that race and racism played a factor in the way in which the system operated,” said Prasanna Balasundaram, co-author of the report and director of legal clinic Downtown Legal Services at the University of Toronto.
The CBSA can detain non-citizens, including permanent residents and foreign nationals, if they are deemed inadmissible to Canada, potentially due to public safety risks, flight risks, or issues with identity documentation. However, the study’s analysis of CBSA data over the past decade shows that fewer than 10 per cent of detainees were arrested due to public safety concerns or serious criminality. Approximately 80 per cent were held because border agents considered them unlikely to appear at future immigration proceedings – determinations the report’s authors suggest are susceptible to bias.
Nana Yanful, a Toronto-based lawyer and report author, explained that these determinations are essentially credibility findings where “bias can creep in.” The report also notes that Canada is one of the few Western countries without time limits on immigration detention, contributing to the lengthy stays experienced by some detainees.
The study highlights a lack of comprehensive data collection on race within the immigration detention system. Canada currently collects data by country of origin, but researchers argue This represents not an adequate proxy for race, rendering issues of discrimination “largely invisible and unaddressed.”
The report’s findings come as the federal government has signaled its intent to increase immigration enforcement. The CBSA, the only major law-enforcement agency in Canada without independent civilian oversight, is currently awaiting the establishment of a review body following the passage of a bill in 2024. This lack of independent oversight is particularly concerning given the planned enforcement increases, according to Yanful.
The report recommends a national, independent review of the immigration detention system, the publicizing of disaggregated data on race, expansion of alternatives to detention programs, and a gradual abolition of detention as a tool of immigration enforcement. Efrat Arbel, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia Allard School of Law and one of the report’s authors, questioned the necessity of detention when no public safety threat exists. “If there is no threat to public safety, why are people being deprived of liberty in these onerous conditions of confinement for indeterminate amounts of time?” she asked.
The CBSA has not yet responded to a request for comment on the study’s findings.
