On September 14, 2025, Ontario became the last Canadian province to end the practice of using provincial jails to detain migrants and asylum seekers on administrative grounds. As of September 15, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) confirmed that no individuals remain detained in provincial correctional facilities. Ontario had historically held the largest number of immigration detainees in provincial jails, drawing intensified scrutiny after a 2023 coroner’s inquest into the 2015 death of Abdurahman Hassan revealed concerning conditions within these facilities.
Human rights advocates welcomed the decision as a major victory. Samer Muscati, Disability Rights Deputy Director at Human Rights Watch, emphasized that Ontario’s move upholds the dignity and rights of people seeking safety in Canada and increases pressure on the federal government to end the broader system of rights-violating immigration detention. Similarly, Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada’s English-speaking section, noted that migrants deserve respect and safety, not incarceration, as they build new lives in Canada.
British Columbia had been the first province to end its immigration detention contract with the CBSA, setting an example for other provinces. The #WelcomeToCanada campaign, launched by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International Canada in October 2021, alongside advocates, legal experts, healthcare providers, faith leaders, and people with lived experience, has consistently pushed for the closure of immigration detention facilities in provincial jails. More than 30,000 Canadians have written directly to authorities in support of this cause.
The practice of using provincial jails for immigration detention has been widely criticized for violating international human rights standards and harming mental health. Reports have highlighted that racialized individuals, particularly Black men, face harsher conditions and longer confinement periods, while people with disabilities experience systemic discrimination throughout the detention process. In recent years, UN bodies including the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention have called on Canada to end immigration detention entirely and respect the rights of detainees.
Despite provincial progress, the federal government has moved in the opposite direction, opening a temporary designated immigrant detention facility in a federal prison at Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Quebec, in July 2025. Advocates urge Ottawa to follow the provinces’ lead by abolishing immigration detention, halting its expansion into federal prisons, and scaling up humane, community-based alternatives that respect human rights and Canada’s international obligations.
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