Deported and Disregarded: Unpacking the Hidden Injustice of Canada’s Deportation Policies

By: Hannah Simonson

Deportation is not a topic most Canadians think about until it becomes a headline, a sudden
media frenzy surrounding a family torn apart or an urgent social media campaign to halt an
unjust removal. But once the attention fades, so too does the public conversation. Left behind
are countless individuals and families affected by Canada’s deportation system, a system that
many argue is deeply flawed, unjust, and discriminatory. While immigration and refugee
protections exist in theory, the realities faced by non-citizens caught in Canada’s immigration
enforcement system often tell a very different story.

hannah simonson

Legal Framework

Canada’s deportation process is governed by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
(IRPA), which outlines how the country handles immigration, refugees, and removals. Under the
IRPA, both permanent residents and foreign nationals, can be deported if they are deemed
inadmissible due to criminal activity.

Permanent residents are individuals who are not citizens but have been granted the right to live
and work in Canada; they can be deported if found guilty of “serious criminality.” This includes
crimes with a maximum sentence of 10 years or more, or those for which six months or more
have been served. Foreign nationals, a category that includes students, tourists,
temporary workers, and refugees, can be deported for minor offences.

Since amendments were made to the Immigration Act in 1995, permanent residents who receive a
sentence of six months or more are no longer allowed to appeal their deportation. That means
humanitarian and compassionate considerations like the presence of family in Canada or the
threat of violence in their country of origin are not taken into account. The length of time a
person has lived in Canada, even if it’s most of their life, carries no legal weight once a
deportation order is issued.

For those with shorter sentences, appeals may be possible. The Immigration Appeal Division
can consider factors like rehabilitation, family ties, and hardship. But if the person commits
another offence, any stay of removal is immediately cancelled.

Impact of Deportation

The effects of deportation go far beyond legal consequences; they tear apart families,
traumatize communities, and put lives in danger. Refugees deported back to their home
countries often face serious threats, including torture or death. While Canada is a signatory to
the 1951 Refugee Convention, which prohibits returning refugees to danger (a principle known
as non-refoulement), exceptions in the law still allow this to happen if someone is deemed a
threat to national security or has committed a serious crime.

The mental health impacts of immigration detention and deportation are staggering. Canada
detains thousands of people each year, including children. Detained immigrants are often held
in jails or immigration holding centers, frequently without access to legal counsel or clear
timelines for release. Many are placed in solitary confinement or subjected to conditions that
violate basic human rights. Refugees and migrants detained without any criminal charges
experience high rates of depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

Beyond detention, deportation causes long-term damage to families. Children may be separated
from their parents. Single-parent households are left struggling with financial instability. Older children
may be forced to drop out of school to help support their families. The trauma of forced
separation and the loss of support networks ripples through generations.

Many people who face deportation end up in the criminal justice system due to circumstances
beyond their control. Newcomers to Canada often experience poverty, discrimination, lack of
access to services, and systemic marginalization. These conditions can lead to criminalized
survival strategies such as petty theft, association with gangs, or other actions driven by
necessity or desperation.

Research has shown that immigrant youth, especially those facing social exclusion or racial
discrimination, may turn to criminal activity as a form of economic or social escape. Frustration
over being denied equal opportunities can sometimes manifest as acts of protest or violence.
Yet when these individuals are criminally charged, they are not only punished by the courts, but they
additionally face the added punishment of deportation.

Canada’s deportation policy effectively punishes people twice for the same crime: once with a
jail sentence, and again with removal from the only country they may have ever known as
home.

Canada prides itself on being a country of compassion, diversity, and justice, but its deportation
policies tell a different story. It is time to recognize that the current system fails to serve the
values we claim to uphold.