Part of Toronto’s Immigration Holding Center (where immigrants are detained by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) before being deported or released into the community to await the hearing of their immigration case) is part of the University’s Looks like a dorm room.
Minley Lloyd is the Assistant Director of Immigration Enforcement Operations at CBSA. She pointed out a gym with yoga mats and weight-training equipment, a small library that also doubles as a prayer room, and a bedroom that opens onto a shared lounge with a couch and TV.
Outside, there is a playground and soccer field surrounded by wire mesh.
“This is definitely in terms of look and feel, and not what you think of when you think of prisons and detention centers. Immigration detention is very unique in that sense…” said CBSA Immigration Enforcement said Sajjad Bhati, Director of Operations.
“Ultimately, this is not correctional detention.”
The layout of the center, which CBC News was granted exclusive access to this week, highlights the unique nature of immigrant detention. Those living there are not allowed to leave the facility, even if they have not been charged with any crime.
For years, states have imprisoned some immigrants and authorities have decided whether to deport them to their countries of origin. But that meant forcing immigrants to rub elbows with people who had been charged or convicted of crimes.
As one Somali man told Radio-Canada in 2023: 5 years 7 months in a maximum security prison in Ontario. At one point, a fight over peanut butter turned violent and he was attacked by inmates.
international organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International campaigned against the practice and released a report in 2021 that found detainees faced abusive conditions.
From 2022, All 10 states agreed. They no longer jail immigrants on behalf of the federal government and gave CBSA one year’s notice, as required by part of the contract. Ontario recently extended its contract. Until September 2025.
Although CBSA officials emphasize the amenities of the storage center, there are still areas that resemble a prison.
The Toronto facility has three “wet rooms” with plastic beds bolted to the floor, surveillance cameras and detention-grade doors. Lloyd said these are aimed at high-risk detainees who may be violent in standard dorm rooms.
“We don’t want to use this place. As you can see, it’s a very bleak place,” Mr Lloyd added.
President Trump threatens mass deportation
Donald Trump’s election to a second term as President of the United States and his plan to deport millions of illegal immigrants. raised concerns in Canada About the increasing number of immigrants trying to flee to Canada.
They could eventually be housed in a detention center in Toronto, which has a total of 205 beds. When CBC visited on Tuesday, the building was about one-third full with 66 detainees.
But officials say they are preparing for a possible increase in the number of detainees.
“We are prepared to respond to all kinds of situations from an operational, policy and program standpoint,” Batty said.
Aaron McCrory, the CBSA’s vice president of information and enforcement, said the agency needs to take the potential for a surge of migrants “seriously” and is “actively working to develop contingency plans.”
Will Donald Trump’s promised mass deportation of illegal immigrants result in desperate people crossing the Detroit River illegally? Peter Berry, head of the Windsor Port Authority, is concerned. CBC’s Dalson Chen spoke with Berry Smith and Ian Smith of the RCMP Windsor detachment.
“We are developing a phased plan to respond with the necessary resources and capacity based on where the volume is occurring,” McCrory added.
He also said that immigrants from the United States cannot enter Canada and apply for asylum unless they meet certain exceptions.
“If you don’t have immigration status, you won’t be allowed into Canada,” McCrory said. “If you are allowed to enter Canada and we are not, we will deport you. And if you are a threat to the public, we will detain you.”
find alternatives to detention
Most people in holding centers are being held for reasons such as being a flight risk, posing a danger to the public or because their identity is unknown.
But the CBSA says the vast majority of people subject to immigration enforcement are actually out in Canadian communities on so-called “alternative measures to detention” (ATD).
As of early November, 13,181 people were in ATD and 158 were being held in CBSA-run immigration detention centers. Another 24 people were placed in Ontario prisons because they “could not be safely managed by IHC,” the CBSA said.
Batty said the CBSA encourages immigrants to follow instructions to voluntarily report to the office, which allows them to remain in their communities while awaiting communication about possible deportation. He said he could.
“Detention itself is, and should be, the absolute last resort,” Batty said. “We are giving individuals many opportunities to voluntarily comply.”
Batty said the agency prides itself on treating detainees with “humanity and dignity,” but stressed that its mission is to “ensure the safety and security of Canada.”
“And if that ultimately means we have to keep you in custody, we will continue to keep that person in custody so that we can affect that person’s deportation from Canada.” That’s what I’m going to claim.”
minors in custody
Canadian immigration authorities have long been criticized for detaining and holding minors in detention centers like Toronto.
In 2017, the federal government issued a directive Strengthen rules for detaining minors in detention centers. It said the child’s best interests must be a “primary consideration” in decisions about detention.
Since the directive was issued, the number of minors being held in detention centers across Canada has decreased. A total of 201 minors were detained in immigration detention centers from 2015 to 2016.
From 2023 to 2024, 19 minors were held in immigration detention centers. The CBSA said 13 of these minors are not subject to deportation orders and can leave the detention center and re-enter the country with the consent of their parents or legal guardians.
Batty said CBSA officials recognize that there are “many ramifications for detaining minors and family units” and that the agency tries to avoid them “to the best of our ability.”
Asked if children in holding centers would be separated from their parents, Bhatti said: “We would not do that to a family unit…Families will not be split up.” .
‘Detention is detention,’ says immigration lawyer
Immigration attorney Jared Will said that while CBSA detention centers look different than state prisons, “detention is detention.”
“Even if you can’t walk out the front gate, there’s something about that experience that sets a standard for everyone.”
Will also criticized the CBSA for framing the need to detain people as a public safety issue.
According to CBSA data, 3,928 people were detained last year because they were unlikely to appear for a test, eligibility review, removal from Canada, or a proceeding that could lead to a deportation order.
Only 60 people were detained solely on grounds of danger to the public.
Will argues that the system as a whole is unfair, pointing to long delays in processing cases and Canadian authorities not providing immigration lawyers with sufficient information about detainees’ cases.
“The process pretends to be fair, but most of the time it’s just a facade,” Will said.
McCrory said it is sometimes necessary to detain people because some feel “the best way to avoid an immigration request is to flee.”
“Individuals who repeatedly violate detention and repeatedly seek to avoid measures, such as deportation, are being placed in alternative detention,” he added.
As provinces cancel their contracts with the CBSA, the Trudeau government I want to use federal prison. Detaining immigrants deemed “high risk.” The government proposed legal amendments to this effect in the April budget.
In September, CBSA announces use of federal prisons Located in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Que. “A temporary location for housing high-risk detainees. This location is only used to detain adult males who pose a significant risk to public safety.”
Will said one of the facility’s “very obvious problems” is its geographic isolation, which separates detainees from their families, support networks and lawyers.
“We see immigration detainees being transferred from one facility to another, only to find out after the fact that their client is 300 kilometers away, making things even more difficult. “, he added.
