Immigration Detention Reviews: 48 Hours, 7 and 30 Days

Immigration detention is not a criminal sentence. The CBSA can detain a permanent resident or foreign national under section 55 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), and must notify the Immigration Division without delay. A CBSA officer can release you before the first review if the reasons for detention no longer exist. If the CBSA does not release you, an ID member reviews the detention on the schedule in section 57.

First review, or without delay afterward

48 hours

Second review, within the following 7 days

7 days

Then at least once in each 30-day period

30 days

Of ID detention reviews held on time, April to December 2025

98%

The point most people get wrong is who must prove what. The IRB's Chairperson's Guideline 2 on detention says the legal burden stays on the Minister at every review. The member must look at the evidence afresh each time, and the Minister's burden becomes heavier as detention grows longer. Detention, even for valid reasons, cannot be indefinite. You do not have to prove you should be released, but a clear release plan is usually the strongest answer to the Minister's concerns.

Under section 58(1), the ID must order release unless it is satisfied, taking the regulatory factors into account, that one of these grounds exists. More than one ground can be argued.

For refugee claimants, the regulations say the member must consider whether you can get identity documents without contacting the government of the country you fear. If you have to fill in a passport or travel document application as a condition of release, it must not be shared with that country while your removal order is not enforceable (IRPR section 250).

• Reason for detentionWhich ground applies and how strong the evidence is
• Time already in detentionThe longer it lasts, the stronger the reasons must be
• How long detention may continueFor example, whether removal or a travel document is realistic soon
• Unexplained delaysDelays or lack of diligence by IRCC, the CBSA or you
• Alternatives to detentionWhether conditions, a bond or a program can address the risk
• Best interests of a childAny directly affected child under 18; a minor is detained only as a last resort

An alternative to detention is a release plan with conditions. You can propose one yourself. The member decides whether conditions are needed and what they are. Common conditions include giving the CBSA your address, reporting regularly, a curfew, living with a named person, and not using alcohol or drugs. People found inadmissible on security grounds must also receive the conditions prescribed in section 250.1 of the regulations.

• Community case management and supervision: for people without a bondsperson or who need extra support. The CBSA contracts the John Howard Society of Canada, the Toronto Bail Program and the Salvation Army, with possible referrals for mental health, addiction, employment, housing and family support.
• Release on reporting conditions: reporting to a CBSA officer at a set frequency, depending on risk.
• Electronic monitoring: GPS, cellular or radio frequency monitoring, used with a bondsperson or the community program, mostly for people assessed as high risk.
• ReportIn app: remote reporting using facial comparison and location data, depending on risk and your willingness to take part.

The CBSA says that in 2025 over 98% of people subject to immigration detention conditions were placed in its alternatives to detention program, and less than 2% were held in immigration holding centres.

1. 1

   1. Get counsel and an interpreter

   You can represent yourself or hire a lawyer, a Quebec notary or a licensed immigration consultant (RCIC-IRB for IRB hearings). A friend or relative can act for free. Legal aid may be available in your province; ask an officer at the detention centre to help you contact it. Ask for an interpreter if you need one.

2. 2

   2. Build a release plan

   Prepare a confirmed address, the conditions you can follow, and who will support you. If there are children, bring evidence about their care, health and schooling.

3. 3

   3. Line up a bondsperson

   Choose someone who knows you well and can influence you to follow conditions. They should complete the IRB's Bondsperson Information form and be available to testify at the hearing. The member must hear a bondsperson who is present before deciding they are unsuitable.

4. 4

   4. Help establish your identity

   Show what you have done to get identity documents and give accurate details. Cooperation is one of the factors the member weighs.

5. 5

   5. Send documents on time

   For the 48-hour and 7-day reviews, documents go to the ID and the CBSA as soon as possible. For later reviews, they must be received at least 5 days before the hearing. The CBSA should also give you copies of its evidence.

6. 6

   6. Ask for an early review if things change

   You can apply in writing for a review before the 7-day or 30-day period ends if you set out new facts, such as a new bondsperson or a change in your removal.

At the hearing, the member introduces everyone and checks the interpretation. Minister's counsel, an officer of the CBSA, explains the reasons for detention and may recommend detention or release. You or your counsel respond, present evidence and question witnesses. The member usually gives the decision and reasons at the end of the hearing. Most ID hearings are open to the public. IRB hearings are scheduled as virtual hearings, and a detained person can ask for an in-person hearing.

The review schedule is fixed by law, so the dates depend on when you were detained:

1. Day 0

   Detention

   The CBSA notifies the ID without delay and may release you before the first review

2. Within 48 hours

   First detention review

   Or without delay afterward

3. Within the following 7 days

   Second detention review

4. Every 30 days

   Further reviews

   At least once in each 30-day period, until release or removal

5. 15 days

   Federal Court application for leave

   To challenge a detention decision, through a lawyer

There is no fixed bond amount: the IRB says the bond should be proportionate to the risk the member identifies. In its March 2026 briefing, the IRB reported 8,300 detention review decisions in 2024-25, that 98% of more than 5,300 reviews from April to December 2025 were concluded within the legal time limits, that 15 people were detained for 180 days or more during that period, and that no minors were detained.

Common reasons members order continued detention:

• No workable release plan: no address, no supervision and no answer to the Minister's specific concern.
• An unsuitable bondsperson: someone who has known the person only briefly, cannot afford the amount, did not stop earlier non-compliance, or is not available to testify.
• A history of not appearing or of breaking earlier conditions, without evidence that things have changed.
• Lack of cooperation on identity, such as refusing to give information or to apply for a travel document.
• Serious criminal history or ongoing risk, without treatment, supervision or other conditions to reduce it.
• Earlier decisions: the member must consider previous detention decisions and explain any departure from them. New evidence is not required, but a new release plan, new arguments or the length of detention so far give the member a reason to decide differently.

• Follow every condition. Conditions apply until you are removed from Canada or until they are changed or cancelled.
• To change or cancel a condition, write to the ID explaining why, with a copy to the CBSA. The IRB's Application to vary conditions of release form can help.
• A bondsperson must tell the CBSA immediately if the person is not complying. A bondsperson who wants to end their role can ask the ID.
• Breaking conditions can lead to re-arrest, a new detention review, and loss of the deposit or payment of the guarantee.
• Your other proceedings continue: an admissibility hearing, a refugee claim, an appeal or a pre-removal risk assessment. Keep your address current with the CBSA, IRCC and the IRB.