The federal government is falling well short of removing thousands of inadmissible foreign nationals from Canada, with internal briefing notes showing border officials are struggling to keep pace even as tens of thousands remain under deportation orders.A Privy Council Office briefing note dated Feb. 3 says the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) removed more than 18,000 inadmissible individuals during the last fiscal year, the highest annual total in a decade. However, Ottawa has set a target of 20,000 removals in each of the next two fiscal years.Blacklock's Reporter said according to the document, the federal government has provided additional funding to help the agency reach that goal by hiring about 30 new frontline officers tasked with interviewing foreign nationals facing removal."The border plan provides funding for the Agency to increase the rate at which it removes inadmissible people from Canada to complete 20,000 removals for each of the next two fiscal years," the memo states.Officials acknowledged the agency is working toward meeting that target while maintaining the same pace in the following fiscal year.Despite the increased enforcement effort, CBSA officials told the House of Commons public safety committee last December that approximately 33,000 foreign nationals with outstanding warrants for their arrest and deportation remain in Canada.The inventory includes individuals ordered removed for a variety of reasons, including criminal convictions.CBSA vice-president Aaron McCrorie told MPs the agency continues to remove people while new cases are constantly being added."I liken our inventories to a bathtub," McCrorie said. "We are constantly scooping water out of that bathtub but the bathtub is filling up.".He said about 2.2% of the 33,000 individuals — roughly 726 people — are linked to criminality."There are varying degrees of criminality," McCrorie said. "It could be crimes they just committed overseas and were discovered here. It could be crimes they committed here."CBSA officials have previously acknowledged that removing every inadmissible person is unlikely.Appearing before the Senate national finance committee last year, then-CBSA vice-president Jonathan Moore said a 100% removal rate was not considered realistic."I think targets of 100% are rarely achievable," Moore told senators. "What we have tried to do is increase our targets year over year."Sen. Tony Loffreda questioned why the agency was not aiming to remove every inadmissible individual, particularly those linked to criminality or war crimes."Our aim is to remove all individuals," Moore replied, but added that deportations are often difficult to complete because of practical and legal obstacles.
