The Canada Border Services Agency spent almost $1-million over two years chartering private aircraft to deport foreign nationals or move them to detention facilities within Canada, according to documents obtained under access-to-information laws by Ottawa-based researcher Ken Rubin.

The chartered flights, logged between August 2021 and September 2022, include several uses of long-range corporate jets of the kind typically associated with executive travel. In January 2022, CBSA chartered a Dassault Falcon 900EX to deport three individuals from Canada at a cost of $438,000. The following month, the agency spent $368,810 on another Falcon 900EX charter to remove two foreign nationals and fly a third to a detention facility in a different part of the country. In September 2022, CBSA paid $130,432 to charter a Bombardier Global 5000 — a long-range jet with seating for 14 passengers and a price tag upwards of US$10-million — to fly two foreign nationals out of Canada. A smaller charter in August 2021 cost $17,244 to transfer a foreign national within Canada to a detention facility.

CBSA spokesperson Luke Reimer said the agency's use of chartered aircraft is rare and limited to exceptional circumstances, with fewer than five aircraft chartered in total since 2020. Most people removed from Canada leave on commercial flights without escorts. Reimer said the decision to charter a private aircraft could follow a refusal by commercial airlines to carry a detainee, or an assessment that the individual's behaviour would pose a legitimate threat to themselves or others on a commercial flight.

The per-passenger cost of the chartered flights stands in sharp contrast to CBSA's own averages for routine removals. According to CBSA records obtained by Rubin, the average cost of removing a foreign national from Canada is $13,098 if escorted by a border officer and $3,905 if unescorted or not transported by air. The January 2022 Falcon charter, which removed three people for $438,000, works out to roughly $146,000 per deportee — more than ten times the escorted average.

CBSA's overall spending on enforcement has climbed steadily. In the 2024-25 fiscal year, the agency spent $78,250,480 on removing foreign nationals and $130,151,809 on detentions. The previous fiscal year, 2023-24, CBSA spent $65,781,214 on deportations and $101,359,044 on detaining foreign nationals not permitted to live in Canada. The agency removed over 18,000 inadmissible people in the last fiscal year, the highest number in a decade, according to CBSA reporting.

The use of private aircraft for deportations is not without precedent at CBSA. In 2007, federal border officials hired a private jet to fly two people to Djibouti after they were deemed too dangerous to remain in Canada. The practice also extends to internal transfers: a Border Services Officer at the airport, or a contracted security guard, accompanies a foreign national to the aircraft during a removal.

The disclosures land in a policy environment that has shifted toward faster, more expansive removal powers. Bill C-12, which became law in March 2026, fast-tracks deportation for some asylum seekers and allows Ottawa to share immigration information with provinces. A Conservative motion proposed in the House of Commons in February includes language calling for the immediate deportation of foreign nationals convicted of a crime in Canada. Separately, the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security is conducting a study aimed at assessing Canada's ability to deport criminally inadmissible foreign nationals and proposing measures to prevent such individuals from entering or remaining in Canada.

The broader context here is one of heightened political pressure on the enforcement file. The chartered-jet expenditures are likely to draw scrutiny from parliamentarians already focused on CBSA's removal capacity and cost efficiency.

Canada's approach differs materially from that of the United States, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement operates a dedicated fleet for deportation flights. ICE has purchased five Boeing 737 aircraft for that purpose, and a recent contract doubles the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's fleet to include two Gulfstream jets. U.S. military deportation flights have also been used under the Trump administration, with one January 2025 flight estimated to cost at least $4,675 per migrant. ICE deportation flights reached record highs in 2025, according to the Associated Press.

The CBSA documents were obtained and first reported by The Globe and Mail on August 6, 2026.