CBSA Report on Inadmissibility to Canada

Meurrens LawUncategorized

Both Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada as well as the Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA“) are responsible for ensuring that Canada’s immigration system maintains the security of Canadian society.  One of the ways that both departments do this is by determining that individuals are inadmissible to Canada.

In this post I will review and summarize a CBSA Intelligence Advisory that was obtained through an informal Access to Information Act.  The Intelligence Advisory was produced by the CBSA Intelligence Operations and Analysis Division in September 2016.  It expired in January 2017.  The Intelligence Advisory identified certain countries that at the time posed unique issues for CBSA’s mandate of protecting Canadians.  In reproducing the information below my goal is not to stigmatize members of these communities nor to imply that their citizens are a threat.  Rather, it is to present information as produced by the CBSA for informational purposes only.  Every person deserves to be treated as an individual.  However, it is contrary to common sense to suggest that certain communities don’t have unique circumstances.

Statistics on Inadmissibility

From 2007 to 2016, the Canada Border Services Agency wrote reports for the following inadmissibilities:

Year

Security Grounds Human Rights Criminal Serious Criminal Organized Crime Health Financial Total

2007

32 34 3993 4691 66 10 49 8875

2008

47 37 3876 4993 108 11 59 9131

2009

55 50 3356 4361 176 14 58 8070

2010

85 25 2922 3943 152 20 58 7205

2011

67 25 3087 3970 158 12 72

7391

2012 42 49 3010 4081 230 6 61

7479

2013 53 43 2883 3934 154 32 65

7169

2014 34 27 2774 3849 176 13 59

6932

2015 107 36 2197 3800 191 18 73

6422

2016 76 25 2290 3771 123 17 63

6385

 

A more detailed chart breaks it down by region.

 

CBSA A44 Reports

 

CBSA has also produced a breakdown by country.

A44 Country Breakdown

 

Several countries appear to be of particular concern to the Canada Border Services Agency.

Bangladesh

According to the CBSA, between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016 Bangladesh became the top source country for individuals found inadmissible to Canada under IRPA s. 34.  The issue involves membership in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (“BNP”) or its main political ally, the Jamaat-e-Islami (“Jamaat”).  While not designated by Public Safety Canada as terrorist entities, some members of the BNP and Jamaat, through, have, according to CBSA, shown that they qualify as being a member of an organisation that there are reasonable grounds to believe engages, has engaged in or will engage in acts or instigate the subversion by force of a government or terrorism.

Bangladesh-A34

The Federal Court of Canada has been somewhat all over the map in trying to decide whether it is reasonable for CBSA and the Immigration and Refugee Board to classify the BNP as a terrorist organization.  In Saleheen v. Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), 2019 FC 145 Associate Chief Justice Gagné summarized the jurisprudence to date.

Hungary

According to the CBSA, Hungarian nationals reported for serious inadmissibilities are most likely to be persons who have sought asylum and engaged in criminality or organized crime several years after their arrival in Canada. Most of the offences apparently occurred within the Greater Toronto Area, Kitchener, Hamilton or Montreal.  For 2015-16, the most common convictions included theft and robbery, crimes involving harassment and assault, and non-compliance with court requirements. Organized criminality consists primarily of theft rings.

The Intelligence Advisory ties the inadmissibility concern to the increase in refugee numbers.  Asylum claims from Hungarian nationals plummeted from 1,880 claims in 2012 to 95 in 2013.  However, in 2016 the number had almost returned to its previous levels, with 1025 from January to October 2016.

Hungarian A44 Report

Somalia

Of the 7,159 Somali nationals that entered Canada through either a permanent residence program or asylum, 2.3% were reported for inadmissibility under security, terrorism, war crimes, criminality or organized crime. The Intelligence Advisory suggests that much of the inadmissibiltiy derives from involvement in the crack cocaine trade.

Somalia A44

Mexico

Between 2012 and 2015, 0.25% of Mexican nationals who entered Canada were reported for inadmissibility.  The most common ground for inadmissibility was criminality.  Half of the offences were committed in Canada.  Nearly half committed various types of offences on more than one occasion.

At the time of the Intelligence Advisory the CBSA cautioned that should the visa requirement be lifted, it was likely that the number of potentially inadmissible people would increase as well.

Mexico A44

Syria

The CBSA Intelligence Advisory notes that the resettlement of Syrian refugees raises national security concerns. The Intelligence Advisory is highly redacted, however, it concludes by noting that Syrian refugees represent a relatively low security threat, although it also implies that this may be to do the fact that less than 22% are men between the ages of 18 and 59.

Syria A44