CBSA Criminal Investigations Program (IRPA)

Notes

1. CBSA (2009). Annual Report: 2007-2008 Criminal Investigations Program. [Return to text]
2. Commercial and corporate entities range from companies that provide immigration consultative services to private educational institutions. [Return to text]
3. Number of IRPA charges laid in 2006-2007 was 212 and 586 in 2008-2009. [Return to text]
4. Source: Comptrollership Branch, June 2010. Expenditures for 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 are incomplete as the Atlantic Region financial data is unavailable for those FYs. [Return to text]
5. The identification of citizenship would facilitate the identification of foreign nationals for whom regulatory enforcement options such as a removal order are available versus a Canadian citizen for whom there is no regulatory enforcement option and therefore, criminal prosecution is the only available course of action. [Return to text]
6. Source: Article in London Evening Standard. April 16, 2009. "Immigration body in £8M PR spend." http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23676618-immigration-body-in-8m-pr-spend.do [Return to text]
7. CBSA (2009). Annual Report: 2007-2008 Criminal Investigations Program. Ottawa, p.3. [Return to text]
8. Bank of Canada. http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/mpr/pdf/2010/mprsumjan10.pdf [Return to text]
9. Source: Consolidated Management Reporting System (CMRS). 4 June 2010. [Return to text]
10. Source: http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/dept-min/pub/just/08.html. [Return to text]
11. Letter of Intent Between the CBSA and the RCMP with Respect to Criminal Investigations and the Laying of Charges Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. 2 February 2007, Ottawa. [Return to text]
12. Commercial and corporate entities range from companies that provide immigration consultative services to private educational institutions. [Return to text]
13. The following three regions were visited during the research phase of this study: Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Prairie (Calgary) and Windsor-St. Clair (Windsor). [Return to text]
14. Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Facts and Figures. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/statistics/menu-fact.asp. [Return to text]
15. Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada. dwsweb International Region/nim_caips_studperme from download of April 6,2010. Cited with permission. [Return to text]
16. Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada. dwsweb International Region/nim_all_caips_e from download of April 2,2010. Cited with permission. [Return to text]
17. Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Report on Plans and Priorities 2010-2011. http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/rpp/2010-2011/inst/imc/imc00-eng.asp. [Return to text]
18. As a result of the new responsibilities under the IRPA, the definitions of Port Prosecutions and Complex Cases needed to be updated. Consequently, a directive was issued in November 2007 redefining what constituted a case under each category. The statistics available for the FYs prior to FY 2008-2009 reflect the old definitions. [Return to text]
19. Threats come from cases such as use of fraudulent documents to support an application under the Canadian Experience Class initiative, providing false information to obtain a favourable Labour Market opinion under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program or counselling misrepresentation in the immigration or refugee process. [Return to text]
20. The previous definition for Port Prosecution was all cases arising from incidents at a POE. [Return to text]
21. Previously, a Complex Case was referred to as a Commercial Case and represented a complex case originating from within Canada with multiple offences occurring over a period of time. [Return to text]
22. Source: Data extract from CIIMS, June 2010. The drop in the number of complex cases between 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 is likely attributed in part to the change in definition of port prosecution and complex case where port prosecutions are no longer limited to those cases that originate at a POE. [Return to text]
23. Government of Canada. Speech from the Throne 2008. [Return to text]
24. While the IRPA is federal statute, all criminal cases for offences under a federal statute are heard before a provincial court and the Crown is represented by a federal prosecutor. [Return to text]
25. Goslett, H.M. and Caruso, B.J. The 2010 Annotated Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of Canada. Carswell, 2009. p.283. [Return to text]
26. Goslett, H.M. and Caruso, B.J. The 2010 Annotated Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of Canada. Carswell, 2009. [Return to text]
27. Canada Border Services Agency Act, 5(1). [Return to text]
28. Canada Border Services Agency. 2010-2011 Report on Plans and Priorities. [Return to text]
29. Letter of Intent between the Canada Border Services Agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with respect to Criminal Investigations and the Laying of Charges under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. February 2007. [Return to text]
30. The remaining interviewees were neutral on the question and no interviewee expressed a negative response to the question. [Return to text]
31. Information sessions are held by the various Criminal Investigations Units with external partners such as CIC staff with the regional offices and the Case Processing Centres. [Return to text]
32. The CBSA is also represented at the Five Country Conference, an annual meeting between heads of immigration and enforcement agencies from Canada, the US, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia. The meetings allow the participating countries to share and discuss views on a broad range of issues affecting regular and irregular migration, including information sharing, key enforcement and immigration challenges and opportunities for future engagements. [Return to text]
33. A national CEC Working Group was originally in place to share information and best practices on the CEC initiative. In October 2008, this working group was rolled into the Anti-Fraud Working Group. Nevertheless, both the Prairie and Ontario regions have set up CIC-CBSA regional working groups to address common CEC issues. The GTA CIC-CBSA Steering Committee meets twice annually. It comprises CBSA directors/superintendent from Inland Enforcement, POEs, Intelligence and CID, and CIC directors in the GTA. The Quebec region has set up an immigration committee with participants from the CBSA, RCMP and PPSC to exchange information and to get status updates on immigration issues in the Quebec region. [Return to text]
34. In addition to the above mentioned participants, representatives from the following organizations also attend: CIC Fraud Deterrence and Verification; CIC Case Processing Centres (Vegreville, Mississauga and Sydney); CBSA migration integrity officers (MIOs) who teleconference in (depending on time difference); and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (mostly related to labour market opinions). [Return to text]
35. CBSA internal correspondence, February 24, 2010; Anti-Fraud Working Group Record of Discussion. [Return to text]
36. Criminal Investigations Division. Annual Report: 2009-2010. [Return to text]
37. This increase may be due to the POE vision wherein BSOs are responsible for all functions at the POE. [Return to text]
38. A production order is a request that must go before a judge in order to obtain information related to a case. For example, in a case of a foreign national who arrives in Canada with fraudulent documents and is intercepted at the airport by a BSO, an investigator could obtain a production order to serve to the airline to confirm flight information before laying charges. [Return to text]
39. Typically gaps of this nature are identified through a Training Needs Analysis. [Return to text]
40. September 2009 evaluation forms were filled out by eight investigators; March 2010 evaluation forms were filled out by 15 investigators. [Return to text]
41. Criminal Investigations Division. Annual Report: 2008-2009. [Return to text]
42. The Operations Branch has developed a document that outlines the differences between proceeding with regulatory and criminal sanctions under the IRPA, with accompanying examples. This chart has not yet been circulated to the regional offices. [Return to text]
43. PPSC interviewees could not provide an exact number. [Return to text]
44. A mini-hearing held during a trial on the admissibility of contested evidence. Source: http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/V/Voirdire.aspx. [Return to text]
45. This is done to ensure that the person interviewed voluntarily provided the information contained in the notes. [Return to text]
46. Chapter 5: Keeping the Border Open and Secure – Canada Border Services Agency in Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the House of Commons, Ottawa (2007). [Return to text]
47. CBSA document. Criminal Investigations Information Management System (CIIMS) Re-Design. August 12, 2009. [Return to text]
48. Criminal Investigations Division. Annual Report 2009-2010. [Return to text]
49. A referral protocol would instruct external and internal partners on when and where to send referrals and what information should be included in each referral. [Return to text]
50. Criminal Investigations Division. Annual Report 2009-2010. [Return to text]
51. The CBSA's investigative body designation under the Privacy Act and Access to Information Act was updated on July 6, 2010. [Return to text]
52. Privacy Act Paragraph 8(2)(e); Privacy Regulations, Schedule II. [Return to text]
53. A Labour Market Opinion assesses the impact the hiring of a foreign worker would have on Canada's labour market or, how the offer of employment would likely affect Canadian jobs. [Return to text]
54. Source: Data extract from CIIMS, June 2010. [Return to text]
55. Criminal Investigations Division. Business Plan 2009-2010. [Return to text]
56. IRPA, Section 124(1) (c). [Return to text]
57. IRPA, Section 122. [Return to text]
58. Source: Data extract from CIIMS, June 2010. [Return to text]
59. Name and description of the sections of the IRPA noted in this table are found in Appendix B. [Return to text]
60. The number of charges attributed to the general charge 124(1)(a) also includes charges entered under sections 18(1) and 52(1) of the IRPA, which do not identify actual chargeable offences. [Return to text]
61. The numbers presented here are those cases in which charges have been laid and do not account for total charges laid. An individual case may have multiple charges laid under multiple sections of the IRPA or multiple charges under a single section of the IRPA. [Return to text]
62. Source: Criminal Investigations Division. Annual Business Plan 2009-2010. Target has been set at 52 complex cases under the full range of CBSA program legislation (i.e., IRPA and the Customs Act. [Return to text]
63. As noted, the totals include all criminal investigations of immigration fraud related to temporary foreign workers, students and immigration consultants. [Return to text]
64. PSAT Reporting for CEC – 2008-2009, Criminal Investigations Division. [Return to text]
65. The majority of these cases (81) are complex cases often involving multiple offending companies, clients, and/or illegal workers. [Return to text]
66. A representative from a non-governmental organization was charged under s.117 of the IRPA for aiding and abetting the entry of undocumented persons into Canada (refugee claimants) at a POE in Quebec. She had done this on several occasions before and had been warned that this conduct was illegal. Although a charge under a s.117 could have been laid, CID decided that a policy change was warranted to ensure that only situations where aggravating factors (e.g. profit) and the negative impact on public interest is clear should call for a s.117 charge. [Return to text]
67. Source: Data extract from CIIMS, June 2010. [Return to text]
68. A case may be counted more than once if charges were laid under more than one section of the IRPA, although if there were multiple charges under only one section of the IRPA that case would be counted only once. [Return to text]
69. A summary conviction offence is one in which the accused appears before a provincial or federal court judge for a trial, without further procedures. More serious offences are prosecuted by indictment. In most cases the accused may choose to be tried by a provincial court judge, by a superior court judge or by a judge of a superior court with a jury. For indictable offences, there may be a "preliminary hearing" during which a judge examines the case to decide if there is enough evidence to proceed with the trial. If the judge decides there is not enough evidence, the case will be dismissed. Otherwise, a full trial will be ordered. http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/dept-min/pub/just/08.html [Return to text]
70. Department of Justice. http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/C-46/page-18.html. This means that enforcement actions, including the laying of charges, must occur within a certain time frame after the alleged offence has been committed. [Return to text]
71. Source: CID Annual Report 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009; National Statistics 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009. [Return to text]
72. High total due to Windsor–St. Clair having one file resulting in successful IRPA fines of $65,000 and three months of house arrest. [Return to text]
73. Source: CIIMS data extract June 2009. [Return to text]
74. The data is captured at the time charges are laid and may not necessarily represent the status on the closing of the criminal action, as the system currently does not force a response at the conclusion of the criminal action to reflect any decisions made by the Crown on how the case will proceed, either summarily or by indictment. Source: CIIMS May 2010. [Return to text]
75. These eight articles document only four unique cases. [Return to text]
76. UKBA Enforcement Business Plan 2008/2009, p. 9. [Return to text]
77. Article in London Evening Standard. April 16, 2009. "Immigration Body in £8M PR spend" http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23676618-immigration-body-in-8m-pr-spend.do.
    [Return to text]
78. In 2007, UKBA carried out 6,300 illegal working operations, 5,060 arrests of immigration offenders and 1,600 prosecutions. [Return to text]
79. UKBA Business Plan April 2009-March 2012, p 22. [Return to text]
80. Source: Data provided by CID. [Return to text]
81. Source: Comptrollership Branch, June 2010. Expenditures for 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 are incomplete as the Atlantic Region financial data is unavailable for those FYs. The figure includes prosecution costs associated with IRPA cases referred to PPSC by the RCMP. [Return to text]
82. Source: Comptrollership Branch, June 2010. Expenditures for 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 are incomplete as the Atlantic Region financial data is unavailable for those FYs. The figure includes prosecution costs associated with IRPA cases referred to PPSC by the RCMP. [Return to text]
83. Source: Comptrollership Branch, June 2010. Expenditures for 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 are incomplete as the Atlantic Region financial data is unavailable for those FYs. [Return to text]
84. Cases opened in one FY may not be concluded in the same FY. [Return to text]
85. CID: National and Regional Statistics Reports: 2007-08, 2008-09. The numbers presented reflect cases in which the CBSA laid charges under the IRPA and the Customs Act and does not represent the total number of charges laid. [Return to text]
86. The Atlantic Region financial data was unavailable for FY 2007-2008 and therefore, Atlantic Region was not included in the calculations. [Return to text]
87. Criminal investigations units in Calgary and Windsor indicated that Canadian citizens are involved in approximately 10% of their cases. The GTA indicated that of the 43 IRPA cases that went to court in FY 2007-2008, 12 were cases against Canadian citizens. [Return to text]
88. In the CID Assessment Criteria public interest definition includes such elements as public confidence in public institutions, and suspect occupying a position of trust. [Return to text]
89. CBSA internal document. Immigration Intermediaries Assumptions. September 2009. [Return to text]
90. Major Case Management is an approach to manage major cases that involves high levels of concurrent activity using the concept of "speed, flow and direction" thereby reducing the length of time required to investigate a complex case (http://www.cpc.gc.ca/courses-cours/descript/mcmtc-gcgge-eng.html). [Return to text]
91. Major Case Management involves high levels of concurrent activity thereby reducing the length of time required to investigate a complex case. The MCM approach is a proven approach used by the RCMP and major police forces in Ontario to facilitate the collection and management of the information requirements associated with such complex cases. [Return to text]
92. Although these duties are currently performed by an intelligence analyst, they could be done by a criminal investigator with a similar skill set. [Return to text]
93. Section 467.1(1), a "criminal organization" means a group, however organized, that
    a) is composed of three or more persons in or outside Canada; and
    b) has as one of its main purposes or main activities the facilitation or commission of one or more serious offences, that, if committed, would likely result in the direct or indirect receipt of a material benefit, including a financial benefit, by the group or by any one of the persons who constitute the group. It does not include a group of persons that forms randomly for the immediate commission of a single offence. [Return to text]
94. Number of IRPA charges laid in 2006-2007 was 212 and 586 in 2008-2009. [Return to text]
95. Source: Comptrollership Branch, June 2010. Expenditures for 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 are incomplete as the Atlantic Region financial data is unavailable for those FYs. [Return to text]
96. The identification of citizenship would facilitate the identification of foreign nationals for whom regulatory enforcement options such as a removal order are available, versus a Canadian citizen for whom there is no regulatory enforcement option and therefore, criminal prosecution is the only available course of action. [Return to text]
97. Article in London Evening Standard. April 16, 2009. "Immigration Body in £8M PR spend". http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23676618-immigration-body-in-8m-pr-spend.do [Return to text]