Canada has 33,000 foreign fugitives on its soil, all with active warrants for detention and deportation, including many with criminal records, and the agency responsible for removing them has set a target that falls 13,000 short, according to federal documents reported by Blacklock's Reporter.

A Privy Council briefing note dated February 3, titled Advancing Border Security, confirmed the Canada Border Services Agency removed over 18,000 inadmissible people in the last fiscal year — the most in a decade — and was funded to reach 20,000 removals annually over each of the next two fiscal years.

To do so, the CBSA hired approximately 30 additional frontline personnel.

Aaron McCrorie, CBSA's vice-president, told the Commons public safety committee in December that the backlog resembles an unwinnable plumbing problem. "I liken our inventories to a bathtub," he said. "We are constantly scooping water out of that bathtub but the bathtub is filling up."

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McCrorie noted that roughly 2.2% of the 33,000 — approximately 726 people — are directly associated with criminality, ranging from offences committed overseas to crimes committed on Canadian soil.

At a 2024 Senate national finance committee hearing, then-CBSA vice-president Jonathan Moore was asked why removal targets sit at 80% rather than 100.

"I think targets of 100% are rarely achievable," he replied. "The reality is it's quite difficult to remove individuals in all cases."

Senator Tony Loffreda of Quebec was not satisfied. "With many of these individuals being inadmissible on account of criminality, war crimes and other reasons, why are we not achieving our targets?" he asked.

He did not receive a satisfying answer.