Provinces pressure federal government to improve migrant detainee system

After seven provinces cancelled contracts that saw them paid to incarcerate migrants detained under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, federal ministers acknowledge the governmentneeds a new system.

Radio-Canada/CBC reported Tuesday that Quebec and New Brunswick will become the latest tostop the imprisonment of migrants in provincial jails, joining B.C., Nova Scotia, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The provinces have to each provide one-year notice to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to rescind their agreements.

"We have to find a different and better path forward," Sean Fraser, minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, said Tuesday.

"There's obviously been certain cases, including tragic cases, where people have found themselves in detention in a facility that did not have the capacity to deal with their needs."

Fraser said his department would work with CBSA on a better strategy.

Migrants who have serious mental health issues have been sent to provincial jails because CBSA felt its three immigration holding centres were ill-equipped to deal with those cases, according to prior documents obtained by Radio-Canada/CBC under the Access to Information Act.

Many migrants have died in detention over the years, some by suicide.

CBSA has not indicated what will happen to the immigration detainees currently held injails after provincialagreements officially end.

'Transition program' in the works: Mendicino

Fraser admitted a "permanent solution"had not yet been identified, but said discussions were ongoing with Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, who oversees the border agency.

Mendicino has confirmed his department is still working on a "transition program" with the provinces.He did not rule out the possibility of transferring immigration detainees to prisons in other provinces.

Migrant rights advocates have expressed concern about that plan.

Mendicino has also opened the door to possible reforms to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in the long term, repeating "that detention must be used as a last resort."

For years, human rights organizations have unsuccessfully lobbied the federal government to stop using provincial jails for immigration cases, a practice many experts say is contrary to international law.

In 2021, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International launched a campaign called Welcome to Canada, which directly calls on the provinces to cancel their contracts with CBSA.

Fraser said he wished provinces gave his department more notice before announcing they wouldend their agreements.

"It's difficult when provinces make an announcement before the federal government is ready to address the consequences of these decisions,"he said.

"In any event, I think that we're of like minds with some of these provinces and we want to find a solution that minimizes the use ofimmigration detention if at all possible."

The federal government still has a contract with Ontario, the province with the largest number of immigration detainees. Ontario said it is currently "reviewing" this agreement.