Only 34,183 of the 575,844 people subject to Canadian removal orders were actively being processed for removal, according to newly released Canada Border Services Agency figures.

That amounts to just 5.9% of the total removal inventory.

The figures were disclosed in a response to an order paper question submitted by Conservative MP Sukhman Gill and answered by Public Safety Canada on September 21.

As of May 27, CBSA listed:

• 478,323 cases as “not yet actionable”
• 29,771 people whose removal was “not possible”
• 33,567 people as wanted
• 34,183 removals in progress

CBSA said it has a statutory obligation to remove inadmissible foreign nationals as soon as possible. However, people cannot be removed while legal proceedings that suspend their removal remain unresolved. Other impediments can also delay deportation.

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Ontario accounted for 275,361 cases, nearly half the national inventory, while Quebec had 218,997. Alberta had 31,174 people under removal orders, but only 1,775 removals were in progress. Another 807 people in Alberta were wanted.

A separate breakdown, pulled six days earlier, showed most removal orders arose from non-compliance with immigration law. However, the inventory also included 6,695 cases involving criminality, 296 involving security grounds, 188 involving organized crime and 118 involving human rights violations.

CBSA admitted it does not systematically record the specific crimes committed by people facing removal. A manual review would be required to determine how many were convicted of offences such as extortion.

The agency also cannot track cases in which criminal charges may have been withdrawn or reduced to prevent deportation.

CBSA said its work targeting extortion networks in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario had resulted in 19 removal orders against convicted offenders as of May 7. It reported removing 55 people through those enforcement efforts, some of whom had extortion-related convictions.