Over 28K Foreign Fugitives With Active Deportation Orders Missing in Canada

A Canada Border Services Agency patch is seen on an officer in Calgary on Aug. 1, 2019. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh/

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has lost track of over 28,000 foreign fugitives who have active deportation orders, according to newly released documents, with hundreds having prior criminal convictions in Canada or abroad.

The information was provided in a response to an Inquiry of Ministry filed by Conservative MP Brad Redekopp, the vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.

The Inquiry document said that there are 28,145 active warrants for “failed refugee claimants” in Canada, down slightly from the 29,248 reported last October, which was first covered by Blacklock’s Reporter.

Among those with outstanding deportation orders are 410 individuals said to have been convicted of crimes in Canada and another 236 people who have been convicted of crimes in their country of origin.

Of those 646 with criminal convictions, just 13 are currently in custody. The CBSA said that while they all have criminal convictions, they may not all pose a danger to public safety.

“Individuals are detained if they are identified as current public safety risks and subject to an immigration process such as removal, regardless of the grounds for inadmissibility,” the agency wrote. According to the CBSA, 253 of the 646 are wanted for arrest.

Jonathan Moor, vice-president of the CBSA, told Senate committee in October 2023 that the agency was unable to pursue “100 percent” of those with outstanding deportation orders but said the agency has tried to increase its targets each year.

Mr. Moor added that the CBSA has set a target to deport 80 percent of foreign fugitives. When questioned by Quebec Senator Tony Loffreda as to why the target was not 100 percent, Mr. Moor said that target would be too difficult to achieve.

While the CBSA lists over 28,000 fugitives in Canada, the true number of immigrants living in Canada illegally is thought to be many times higher but no official figures have been published by the government. A 2022 report from Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) claimed that some academics have estimated there could be as many as 500,000 people living in Canada without a valid visa or other documentation.

Last year, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller told the Globe and Mail newspaper that the government was planning to create a path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of people living in Canada illegally for years, saying there may be 300,000 to 500,000 illegal immigrants in Canada.

Mr. Miller said the government would be looking into a program involving the construction sector that could allow illegal immigrant construction workers to obtain permanent residency and that the program could be expanded later.