CBSA updates cost recovery for removing inadmissible individuals

OTTAWA , ON, Jan. 3, 2025 /CNW/ - The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has a legal obligation to remove all foreign nationals that are inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). From January 1 to October 31, 2024, the CBSA removed over 14,000 inadmissible foreign nationals.

Today, the CBSA announced it is introducing a new measure to reduce the cost burden of removing inadmissible people from the country by increasing the fees that individuals will have to pay if they want to return to Canada.

Individuals being removed from Canada are required to pay for their own travel costs. In situations where the inadmissible person is unable or unwilling to pay, the CBSA covers the cost to ensure that they are removed in a timely manner. Costs are recovered by the Government of Canada when an individual who was removed at the government's expense seeks to return to Canada. Under the new cost recovery framework, the fees will be adjusted from approximately $1,500 previously to just over $12,800 for escorted removals and just over $3,800 for unescorted removals, regardless of destination. This change establishes a cost recovery framework that is more in line with the current costs of removals and encourages voluntary compliance with removal orders.    

This new measure will come into effect in April 2025. Any adult facing removal will be charged a fee based on the framework that was in place at the time they became subject to the removal order and were removed.

Quote

"This update in cost recovery for the removal of inadmissible foreign nationals brought forward by the CBSA builds on our plan to strengthen border security and our immigration system. In recent months, we re-imposed a Visa requirement on Mexican visitors, aligned the hours of service between Canada and U.S. at many ports of entry, and ended flagpoling for work and study permits at the border, keeping 70,000 non-residents from entering the U.S. The security partnership between Canada and the United States has been keeping people on both sides of the border safe for decades – and we'll always be looking for ways to further strengthen it."

-  The Honourable David J. McGuinty, Minister of Public Safety

Quick Facts

• The process for determining inadmissibility begins with the issuance of a section 44 report that outlines the inadmissibility and referral of the report to an authorized decision-maker: Minister's Delegate or an Immigration Division Member for an admissibility hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) where a determination is made on whether to issue a removal order. Everyone ordered to be removed from Canada is entitled to due process before the law and all removal orders are subject to appeal and procedural fairness.
• The new removal fees is replacing a geographic based recovery framework that had not been updated since 1993.
• The full cost of removal includes purchasing airline tickets, conducting removal interviews, obtaining travel documents, making removal arrangements, case management, partnership and liaison work.
• On average, approximately $497,100 in removal costs is recovered each year from foreign nationals who apply to return to Canada.

SOURCE Canada Border Services Agency