Detention Reviews

What Is a Detention Review

A detention review is a hearing where the Immigration Division (ID) of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) decides whether you stay in immigration detention or are released. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) handles the arrest and enforcement side of your case, but it does not decide whether you remain detained. That decision belongs to the ID, an independent tribunal separate from the CBSA and from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Detention reviews are held on a fixed statutory schedule, and at every single review, the burden is on the Minister's counsel, representing the CBSA, to justify why detention should continue. You do not have to prove that you deserve release. The law's starting point is release, not detention.

Why People Are Detained

Under sections 55 and 58 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), the CBSA may detain a permanent resident or foreign national where there are reasonable grounds to believe the person is one of the following.

• A flight risk: unlikely to appear for an examination, an admissibility hearing, or removal.
• A danger to the public: based on criminal history, allegations of violence, or links to organized crime.
• Unable to establish their identity: particularly common for foreign nationals who arrive without documents.
• Subject to an ongoing inadmissibility investigation: on grounds of security, human or international rights violations, or serious criminality.
• Part of a designated irregular arrival: as designated by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. If you fall into this category, a different review schedule applies to you, and your representative should confirm this with you directly, since most of the general information on this page will not apply in the same way.

The Statutory Review Schedule

The review clock is set out in sections 57 and 57.1 of IRPA, and it runs regardless of what happens at any single hearing.

• Review 1: held by the Immigration Division within 48 hours of detention, or as soon as possible afterward. The CBSA may release you on its own before this hearing takes place, but if it does not, the ID conducts the review.
• Review 2: held within 7 days after Review 1.
• Every review after that: held at least once every 30 days for as long as detention continues.

Each review is a fresh hearing, not a rubber stamp of the last one. The Minister's counsel must re-establish the grounds for detention every time, and the ID member must consider whether anything has changed since the previous review.

What Happens at a Detention Review Hearing

A detention review hearing is a formal proceeding, usually held by videoconference, connecting the ID member, you, your counsel if you have one, and the Minister's counsel. All IRB hearings are scheduled as virtual by default, but you can request an in-person hearing. If you are represented, your counsel should make that request in writing; if you are not, you can make the request yourself, either in writing or at the hearing.

The Minister's counsel speaks first, explaining why the CBSA believes detention should continue and referencing the grounds set out in IRPA. Your counsel then responds and presents evidence supporting your release, which can include a proposed alternative to detention such as a release plan with a bondsperson. The ID member may ask questions of both sides. At the end of the hearing, the member decides and gives reasons on the spot, so you will know immediately whether you are released or whether detention continues.

Before the hearing, the CBSA is required to share the evidence it intends to rely on, including any documents about the reasons for your detention, officer or law enforcement reports, and records of past immigration violations. You and your representative have the right to review this evidence in advance so you can prepare a response.

Your Rights During a Detention Review

Legal representation. You have the right to be represented at every review, though representation must come from someone authorized to appear before the IRB. See Who Can Represent You below for what that means in practice.

Language access. If English or French is not your first language, you can request an interpreter at no cost, at any stage of the process.

A fair, independent hearing. The ID member is independent of the CBSA. You have the right to present your case, introduce evidence, call witnesses, and cross-examine the Minister's witnesses.

Humane treatment. Detention is administrative, not punitive. You retain the right to be treated with dignity, including access to food, medical care, and a safe environment. If you believe your rights are being violated, you can file a complaint with the CBSA's Recourse Directorate or the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

Waiving a review. You can choose to waive your 48-hour or 7-day review, but this should only be done on legal advice, since it means you remain in detention until your next scheduled review.

Release Conditions and Alternatives to Detention

Detention is meant to be a last resort, and at every review the ID member must consider whether a workable alternative exists. If you are released, it will almost always come with conditions attached, and breaching those conditions can lead to re-arrest.

Common release conditions include:

• A cash deposit or performance bond: posted by a bondsperson, usually a Canadian citizen or permanent resident who commits to supervising your compliance.
• Reporting requirements: regular in-person or telephone reporting to a CBSA office.
• Residency: living at a specified address and notifying the CBSA of any change.
• Travel restrictions: surrendering your passport and staying within a defined geographic area.
• Electronic monitoring or community supervision: through the CBSA's Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program, which can include supervision arrangements with community organizations such as the John Howard Society or the Toronto Bail Program.

If your circumstances change after release, meaning enough time has passed and you have been complying, or your situation has shifted significantly, you can write to the Immigration Division asking to vary or cancel a condition. A copy of that letter must also go to the CBSA.

Impact of Detention on Individuals and Families

Detention does not affect only the person being held. Immigration Division members are required to consider how detention affects children, partners, and other dependents when deciding whether release or an alternative to detention is appropriate. If you are the primary caregiver for children, or you support a family member with a disability or health condition, this is relevant to your case and should be raised at your review. In some circumstances, this kind of hardship also intersects with a humanitarian and compassionate application.

Choosing a Bondsperson

A strong, credible bondsperson is often the single most important part of a release submission. The ID member is not just looking for money on the table. They are looking for someone who will actually exercise supervision.

An ID member will typically weigh whether the proposed bondsperson:

• Has a real relationship with you: family, a long-term friend, or someone with a genuine community connection, not a stranger recruited for the hearing.
• Has stable housing, employment, and finances: enough to make the commitment credible.
• Understands the conditions: and can explain them back if asked.
• Can credibly commit to reporting non-compliance: even though that means reporting someone they care about.
• Has a clean record themselves.

The deposit amount does not need to be large to be persuasive. What matters is whether the member believes the bondsperson will genuinely follow through.

Detention on Identity Grounds

Detention under section 58(1)(d) of IRPA, where your identity has not been established, is meant to be short. At every review, the ID will ask what the Minister has done since the last hearing to confirm your identity. If there has been delay, inactivity, or an unexplained gap in that investigation, this is a strong argument for release. Courts have repeatedly intervened where identity-ground detention was allowed to continue without genuine investigative progress.

If identity is the issue in your case, it helps to provide any official documents you have, explain gaps or inconsistencies in your information, and, where possible, ask people who know you to confirm your identity in writing or in person.

Long-Term Detention and the Thanabalasingham Framework

The Federal Court of Appeal's decision in Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Thanabalasingham remains the leading authority on contested, prolonged detention. It establishes that previous detention decisions are not binding on later reviews, but that any new order to continue detention must directly engage with why earlier releases were refused and must give clear reasons.

The longer detention continues, particularly past six months, the more scrutiny the case receives. The ID must weigh the Minister's interests against your liberty interests and must consider whether your removal from Canada is realistically foreseeable. Where removal has stalled, for example because your country of origin will not issue travel documents, the case for continued detention grows weaker with each review, not stronger.

If Detention Continues: Federal Court Judicial Review

A decision by the ID to continue your detention is not the end of the road. It can be challenged at the Federal Court of Canada through judicial review, running in parallel with your ongoing statutory reviews. The deadline to file is 15 days from the decision, so if judicial review is something you want to pursue, you need to speak with your representative right away.

Where People Are Held: Canada's Detention Facilities

If you are detained, you will typically be held at one of the CBSA's three Immigration Holding Centres, located in Toronto, Laval, or Surrey, or in some cases at a designated facility for higher-risk detainees. Individuals assessed as high-risk, based on prior convictions or demonstrated violent or unpredictable behaviour, may be held at the CBSA's designated immigrant station, operating on the grounds of a Correctional Service Canada facility in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Quebec, which became operational in mid-2025. This site is managed independently by the CBSA and is separate from the general federal inmate population.

Recent Developments in Canada's Detention System

Canada's immigration detention system changed significantly between 2024 and 2026, and if you're researching this topic, it's worth knowing where things currently stand.

Provinces have exited immigration detention. By 2024, all ten provinces had ended their agreements or arrangements to hold immigration detainees in provincial jails. This was the result of a multi-year campaign by human rights organizations over conditions in provincial correctional facilities, and it means people are no longer incarcerated in provincial jails on immigration grounds alone.

Federal penitentiary space became available for high-risk cases. In response, legislative changes passed in June 2024 permit the temporary use of Correctional Service Canada facilities, until 2029, to hold a limited number of high-risk immigration detainees. Budget 2024 allocated $325 million over five years to upgrade the CBSA's own Immigration Holding Centres so they can safely accommodate higher-risk individuals, reducing long-term reliance on the federal penitentiary arrangement.

Oversight continues. The Canadian Red Cross monitors conditions at CBSA detention facilities, including the new designated immigrant station, and reports on whether conditions meet domestic and international standards.

Legislative review is ongoing. Immigration detention policy remains under active review, including through Bill C-12, the Strengthening Canada's Immigration System and Borders Act, and through Canada's most recent review by the UN Human Rights Committee. If your case touches on detention policy specifically rather than your own individual review, it's worth confirming the current status of this legislation with your representative, since it can move quickly.

The core legal test has not changed through any of this. Detention remains a measure of last resort, and the CBSA still carries the burden of proving, at every single review, that it remains necessary.

Who Can Represent You at a Detention Review

You are not required to have a representative, but if you choose one, the choice matters. Since July 1, 2023, only lawyers and consultants holding the RCIC-IRB licence class from the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) are authorized to represent clients before the Immigration and Refugee Board, including at detention reviews, admissibility hearings, and appeals. A standard RCIC licence, without the IRB specialization, does not permit representation before the Board. This applies even where the representative is not charging a fee.

Sepehr Falahati, RCIC, is licensed by the CICC (Licence #R533959) with authorization to represent clients before the Immigration and Refugee Board.