Government Says It’s Unable to Catch All Foreign Fugitives in Canada

A Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) patch is seen on a CBSA officer’s uniform in Calgary, Alberta, on Aug. 1, 2019. (Jeff Mcintosh/The Canadian Press)

Not all foreign fugitives are able to be tracked, caught, and deported, according to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

“I think targets of 100 percent are rarely achievable,” Jonathan Moore, vice-president of CBSA, said during a Senate national finance committee meeting.

“What we have tried to do is increase our targets year over year.”

CBSA has targeted an 80 percent success rate in deporting foreign fugitives, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

Senator Tony Loffreda of Quebec noted that the CBSA spent $445 million on border enforcement in 2022.

“With many of these individuals being inadmissible on account of criminality, war crimes, and other reasons, why are we not achieving our targets?” he asked of Mr. Moore. “Why are our targets only 80 percent? Should we not look to remove close to 100 percent of these individuals?”

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“Our aim is to remove all individuals,” Mr. Moore said.

“Why the target of 80 percent as opposed to 100 percent?” asked Mr. Loffreda.

“Because I think the reality is it’s quite difficult to remove individuals in all cases,” Mr. Moore replied.

CBSA said it had deported 10,041 inadmissible foreigners in 2022 but was unable to find 29,248 fugitives who were banned from the country.

“The complexity of cases in the ‘removals working’ inventory has steadily increased since 2011,” wrote the agency. “It requires more effort from the Agency to enforce removal orders.”

The stats come after an internal federal audit showed that 3,300 foreign nationals flagged by CBSA as security risks have been allowed entry into the country between 2014 and 2019.

In that time period, 7,670 migration applicants had been given a “non-favourable” recommendation, according to CBSA. The status is given when there are inadmissibility concerns for applicants, such as “espionage, subversion, terrorism, danger to the security of Canada, membership in an organization that engages in the aforementioned acts, or violence.”

As of June 2020, Immigration and Refugee Citizenship Canada (IRCC) had allowed 3,314 applicants into the country that had been flagged as security risks by CBSA.

According to the internal audit, IRCC will authorize these applicants either because it does not agree with CSBA’s assessment, or because they receive a “public policy exemption that is based on a National Interest Letter from a federal entity ... which deems that the entry of this person to Canada is in the country’s national interest.”