Who can be detained?

The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) may detain a person if they believe that:

• The person may not appear for a hearing or removal.
• The person has failed to establish his/her identity.
• The person is inadmissible to Canada and can be a threat to the safety and security of Canada.

A person can also be detained when they are entering Canada if the officers believe that they need to investigate him/her further, or if they believe that there are reasonable grounds that the person may be inadmissible on the basis of security, criminality or violating human or international rights. 

What happens if a person is detained?

When a person is detained then CBSA informs the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) about the detention. The person can be detained in an immigration holding centre or a provincial correctional facility. It is important to get counsel to represent you as soon as possible. A member of the Immigration Division will hear your case within the first 48 hours. It is called a Detention Review. 

What happens at the Detention Review?

When a Detention Review is conducted then the Member of the Immigration Division tries to evaluate whether the reasons for your detention still exist. Arguments are made by the minister’s counsel about why you should still be kept in detention. Your counsel gets a chance to respond, make arguments against it and evaluate the evidence that is present. If the member of the Immigration Division still believes that your detention should continue after hearing the case, then the member would consider the following conditions like how long should the person continue in detention, time already spent in detention and what alternatives are present other than detention. 

When are Detention Reviews conducted?

The initial Detention Review is conducted within the first 48 hours. The next detention review is conducted within 7 days. After this the detention reviews are conducted at least every 30 days. 

The member of the Immigration Division may decide to continue your detention or decide to release you with or without conditions, based on the evidence presented at Detention Reviews. 

Getting a counsel to represent you during a detention review is very important. It is advisable to get counsel as soon as possible so that they can help you with the process and you don’t feel lost on the way. We at SAM Law can help you with it and are very experienced in detention reviews. Please contact us for further details.