PACP - Assisted Voluntary Returns Pilot Program - Nov 24, 2020

• We accept the recommendation from the Auditor General and are working on options to encourage voluntary returns for foreign nationals with removal orders.
• Budget 2019 provided the CBSA with $21M to design an Assisted Voluntary Return pilot, intended to further expand CBSA strategies to incentivize returns, secure compliance with removal orders and reduce removal costs.
• Options have been developed, in consultation with internal and external partners to create an Assisted Voluntary Returns Pilot Program (AVRPP) to be implemented in fall 2021.
• The pilot Program will follow engagement of international like minded partners who currently administer voluntary removal programs, best practices and lessoned learned from the review of the legacy CBSA Assisted Voluntary Returns and Reintegration pilot in 2012-2015.

Questions and Answers:

Q: How is the Assisted Voluntary Returns Pilot Program different from the Assisted Voluntary Return and Repatriation (AVRR) pilot program that previously ran from 2012-2015?

Best practices and lessons learned from the previous pilot are being taken into consideration with the development of the new program. For example, the 2012-2015 pilot program was only open to failed refugee claimants and, of those foreign nationals who did participate, the majority were from a limited number of countries. Despite the engagement of a third party service provider, the program did not result in an increase in the number of travel documents to facilitate removals and did not result in a sustained reintegration of removed foreign nationals over the long term. Overall, the previous pilot program did facilitate the ability of inland officers to focus on higher-risk removals, however, removals of the average low-risk case took longer and cost more when new refugee system reforms took effect. The new program will be designed to avoid these challenges.

Q: Are international partners using similar programs? How is the Assisted Voluntary Returns Pilot Program different?

The majority of European Union (EU) countries administer Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) programs that mirror CBSA’s legacy pilot. Overall these programs share similar approaches in that they provide both cash and in-kind reintegration assistance to failed asylum seekers, although they do not monitor sustained long term reintegration. Best practices and lessons learned from these programs are being considered during the development of the new pilot Program.

Q: How will the Assisted Voluntary Returns Pilot Program increase removals of inadmissible foreign nationals?

The Assisted Voluntary Returns Pilot Program will encourage voluntary compliance by foreign nationals with enforceable removal orders by providing them with monetary incentives to depart Canada as a means of assisting with relocation.

Q: How will the Assisted Voluntary Returns Pilot Program reduce removal costs?

Incentivizing voluntary compliance with enforceable removal orders will reduce the use of Agency resources and provide a cost savings to both the CBSA and the Government of Canada. For example, increased voluntary compliance will reduce the number of individuals in the removals stream of the asylum system and will allow CBSA officers to focus on removing individuals with more difficult cases that have higher associated administration costs. An increased number of individuals departing Canada after their initial negative decision from the Refugee Protection Division might reduce the number of foreign nationals accessing available recourse mechanisms that have low chances of success, thus reducing legal costs. Provincial and Federal social programs will also see a reduction in the number of people using social assistance, schooling, housing and health care as they wait for their subsequent claims to be heard.

Q: When will the new program start?

Delivery is expected in fall 2021.

Background information:

Through Budget 2019, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) secured $21M initial funding to design an Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) pilot. The purpose of this funding is to allow the CBSA to develop strategies to incentivize returns, secure compliance with removal orders and subsequently reduce removal costs.

The CBSA legacy AVRR program pilot was introduced from June 29, 2012 to March 31, 2015, to facilitate the timely removal of low-risk, failed refugee claimants through voluntary returns, thereby allowing CBSA’s Inland Enforcement Operations to focus on higher-risk removals. A budget of $31.9 million was allocated over three years to deliver AVRR. This included funding for CBSA and its partner, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) personnel to process the departures, as well as the reintegration assistance, plane tickets, and travel documents for those who returned under the pilot. The pilot was focused operationally within the Greater Toronto Area Region. The pilot design was mirrored on existing international partner administered AVRR programs.

To financially manage the program, the CBSA and the IOM entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). As there was no clear provision under the Financial Administration Act to make payments under non-binding arrangements, the Agency sought an Order in Council, approved by the Governor General, in order to initiate ex-gratia payments to the IOM.

Ex-gratia payments were stringently monitored and a financial framework was developed in partnership with the IOM to assure fiscal integrity. A mandatory audit of IOM business practices was undertaken, as articulated within the ratified MOU in the third year of the pilot, and the audit identified no concerns. The CBSA was responsible for determining program eligibility, and referred interested individuals to the IOM to finalize AVRR enrollment, including planning and implementation of their departure from Canada that involved in-kind reintegration assistance. In-kind reintegration assistance via goods, services, and transactions not involving money or not measured in monetary terms, was disbursed by the IOM overseas (in the country of return), to an amount not exceeding 2K, and was offered to each participant from non-Designated Countries of Origin (non-DCO)^{Footnote *}.

Additionally, AVRR participants were eligible for differing amounts of reintegration assistance contingent on the recourse processes they partook in (e.g., application for Judicial Review at Federal Court), thereby allowing AVRR participants to avail themselves of a specific amount when electing to enroll in the AVRR program pilot. The projected target was 6,955 removals; over the lifespan of the pilot, however, the end result was 3,950 removals (57% of the original projection).

The AVRR evaluation report (finalized in summer 2014) identified signs of initial success in the first year of the pilot: client uptake was 66% of the targeted enrollment inventory; only three individuals tried to return to Canada after being removed through AVRR; and, the projected removal target in the first year was exceeded by five percent. However, by the second year, enrollment had declined substantially as there were fewer refugee claims overall (approximately 13,000 compared to the projected 22,500 annual intake), and much fewer nationals from DCO countries were interested in the pilot program. The lower overall enrolment numbers resulted in the program evaluation finding that AVRR removals were less timely and cost-effective, as overall pilot costs were amortized over a smaller than anticipated client base.

International partner Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) programs share similar approaches to the legacy CBSA AVRR pilot program in that they provide both cash and in-kind reintegration assistance to failed asylum seekers. Eligible participants may secure funded airplane tickets; an average disbursement of $1380 cash per individual, and/or up to $8,000 worth of in-kind contributions for reintegration. Several countries have program variants that facilitate the return of specific subgroups including failed asylum seekers, irregular migrants, unaccompanied minors, vulnerable groups and foreign nationals from specific countries.

Of the Migration 5 (M5) countries, the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia have active AVR programs and contract services with both the IOM and/or other third party service providers. The Australians have limited program eligibility, and exclude persons deemed to be criminally inadmissible. In addition to a range of AVR programs similar to those identified above, the UK is the sole country that includes a program whose target population is individuals with criminality. New Zealand and the United States do not have AVR programs that incentivize voluntary removals.

Approximately half of the AVR programs evaluated implement a graduated incentive regime based upon the point within the immigration continuum when the individual chooses to enroll. This strategy serves to further encourage voluntary participation early in the asylum process, eases backlog inventories and minimizes resources needed to support those persons accessing social assistance programs.

Both M5 and European Union partners perform some form of evaluation of their programs whether ad-hoc or planned and are undertaken in-house or by a third party service provider. Key outcomes of these evaluations vary widely. Overall international partners view assisted voluntary returns as more cost effective than forced returns, but most countries do not have a comparison to non-assisted voluntary returns so it is difficult to assess if the programs are effective in incentivizing self removal. Post monitoring of individuals who participate in the programs do not conclusively indicate that assistance with reintegration deters repeat irregular migration. Following an analysis of international AVR initiatives, the CBSA can confirm that there is no fulsome program assessment data that can conclusively verify the success of post return reintegration efforts. Further, there is no data to confirm if traditional AVR program sponsored returnees remain in their country of citizenship or habitual residence, or choose to again irregularly migrate.