The Canadian government’s plans to use federal prisons for immigration detention has drawn the rebuke of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) as well as the ire of an international coalition of civil society groups, who have launched a petition demanding that Canada abandon the plans. The battle over prisons Canada is among […]
Canada
GUEST OPINION: Canada – Rejecting and Promoting Migrant Detention, All in a Day’s Work
By Anne-Rachelle Boulanger On 16 June 2023, two decisions were taken in Canada with important implications for immigration detention. First, the province of Ontario confirmed that it would no longer allow the federal government to detain migrants in its provincial prisons, in line with recent decisions in other provinces. But just a few hours after […]
GUEST OPINION: In Canada – One Step Forward, Two Steps Back …
By Anne-Rachelle Boulanger In a move that could augur fundamental changes in Canada’s immigration detention system, four provinces—British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Alberta, and Manitoba—have announced that they will end the Canada Border Services Agency’s (CBSA) use of their provincial jails for detaining migrants by June 2023. In doing so, these provinces may help roll back […]
Open Letter Calling for Canada to Stop the Use of Provincial Jails for Immigration Detention
The GDP has joined 39 Canadian and international organisations in an open letter calling on Canadian authorities to cease detaining migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in provincial jails. As the GDP has previously documented, Canada has regularly attracted criticism for its persistent use of jails for immigration detention – and in particular, for its placement […]
Canada: Covid-19 and Detention
In a historic move, British Columbia’s Public Safety minister announced in July that the province will end the use of provincial jails for confining immigration detainees. The announcement, which followed a review of the province’s contract with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to facilitate the use of provincial correctional facilities for detaining migrants, is […]
Immigration Detention in Canada: Progressive Reforms and Missed Opportunities
In recent years, Canada has adopted both progressive refugee policies and restrictive border control measures, including agreeing to accept more refugees than other countries while at the same time adopting policies that restrict asylum eligibility. Canada’s immigration detention system has also continued to attract criticism, particularly because of its persistent use of prisons for immigration purposes, the carceral environments of its dedicated immigration detention centres, and its failure to adopt a maximum time limit for immigration detention, leaving some detainees facing indefinite detention. […]
Canada: Covid-19 and Detention
[From the GDP’s April 2021 Canada Report] As previously reported on this platform, calls for releasing people in prisons and other Canadian detention settings began soon after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In mid-March, immigration detainees submitted an open letter to Canada’s Public Safety Minister demanding their release—pointing to the close quarters where they […]
Canada: Covid-19 and Detention
There have been growing tensions between the United States and Canada over Canada’s continuing closure of its border to non-essential US travellers, which has been in effect since 21 March and is slated to remain in effect until September. Penalties for unlawfully crossing into Canada can be expensive, and can also involve detention and incarceration. […]
Canada: Covid-19 and Detention
Since a peak on 3 May, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases has significantly declined in Canada in the past month. The province of Quebec has been the most affected during the pandemic, with almost half of the total number of cases. Two COVID-19 related deaths have been recorded in a provincial and a federal […]
Canada: Covid-19 and Detention
On 23 April, there were 193 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in federal penitentiaries in Canada, according to a report from the Office of the Correctional Investigator. Around 400 detainees were placed in medical isolation. Measures announced by the Correctional Service on 31 March included, among other things, the suspension of all visits and the closing […]
