For some migrants in the neighbourhood of Park-Extension, fear of deportation is becoming so overwhelming that even going to a food bank can feel like a risk. Community workers say the increased presence of Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers is creating a climate of fear, keeping people away from essential services and leaving some families increasingly isolated. Last spring, plainclothes CBSA agents reportedly showed up at a food bank operated by Afrique au Féminin, a Parc-Extension non-profit organization supporting immigrant women and families. Executive director Rose Ngo Ndjel said agents approached a volunteer with photographs of people they were looking for, asking whether they recognized them. She said the visit had a significant impact on the organization and the people it serves. Attendance at the food bank, which previously welcomed more than 500 people, dropped to as low as 300, according to Ngo Ndjel. She said the consequences extended beyond those facing deportation orders. “We have friends and even many volunteers who are hiding because they are afraid that they [CBSA agents] will come to the food bank,” Ngo Ndjel said. She questioned why residents are being apprehended and said they are being treated like a threat. “We take care of our community; we take care of our people. They are not people who have killed, they are not criminals, they did not do anything bad,” said Ngo Ndjel. “I don’t know why they can arrest them like they are thieves or somebody who has killed. To do that is simply not humane.” For people without legal status, food banks and community organizations can be among the few places where they can turn for help. Amy Darwish, co-ordinator of the Parc-Extension Action Committee (CAPE), said the organization had heard increasingly concerning reports of CBSA agents also showing up at Sikh temples and other religious spaces to locate undocumented migrants. “We worry about it jeopardizing people’s access to food and to food security, at a time when their situation is already precarious,” Darwish said. She said there were also reports of agents repeatedly visiting former addresses and questioning neighbours and roommates in an effort to track people down. “We see it as an effort on the part of the CBSA to make people’s lives unlivable in hopes that they give up and, and leave,” added Darwish. A neighbourhood under pressure The growing fear comes amid a sharp increase in deportations across Canada. Last year, CBSA carried out more than 23,000 deportations nationwide, a record at the time. Quebec accounted for more than 10,000 of them, a 52 per cent increase from the previous year. Darwish said Parc-Extension has been particularly affected because many of the communities facing the highest levels of enforcement — including people from India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan — call the neighbourhood home. She said community workers had been meeting between five and seven families every week who received notices to report to CBSA and prepare to leave Canada. For many, the threat of deportation meant making impossible decisions after years of building a life here. Some went into hiding, while others faced the possibility of being separated from family members. As a housing advocacy group, Darwish said CAPE’s work in recent years had been assisting tenants dealing with abusive rent increases, evictions, harassment and intimidation aimed at forcing people to leave so that landlords can raise the rent. “However, what we’re seeing more and more is that people are not being displaced as much by evictions as they are by deportations these days,” she said. Federal policy changes driving up numbers The situation in the neighbourhood has also raised concerns about the impact of federal immigration policy changes. Bill C-12, which became law in March 2026, expanded federal powers over immigration applications. Ottawa has also announced increased funding for border enforcement, including the recruitment of additional CBSA officers. Amel Zaazaa, co-founder of the Observatory for Migrant Justice based in Park-Extension, said the tightening of immigration rules had left many people without a clear path to regularize their status, even after establishing their lives in Canada. She argued that people should not be blamed for losing their status. “The system itself caused these people to lose their status—by bringing in so-called temporary workers, and by admitting international students only to then cut off their pathways to permanent residency, effectively changing the rules of the game halfway through,” said Zaazaa. She also drew comparisons between CBSA and the United States’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, saying enforcement practices in Canada were becoming increasingly concerning. “The CBSA is essentially the equivalent of ICE; the situation here is not all that different,” noted Zaazaa. “It just takes a form that is perhaps less dramatic and less visible to the general public.” But, the effects, she said, are nonetheless being felt throughout the neighbourhood. She described cases where some residents are reconsidering when they leave home, whether to go to work or even whether to send their children to school. Others, she said, are avoiding medical appointments for fear of being seen by CBSA agents and deported. Zaazaa said the fear had become so pervasive that some people declined to attend a community discussion organized specifically for those affected by deportations because they worried CBSA agents might show up. CBSA defends its enforcement practices In a statement to CTV News, CBSA spokesperson Kelly Cameron said the agency had no record of recent immigration enforcement operations at food banks, religious institutions or schools in Montreal. Cameron said the agency had policies guiding officers’ interactions and enforcement activities in certain institutions to protect people’s rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. “While there is no legal restriction preventing the CBSA from carrying out necessary enforcement actions in public institutions, for example places of worship, elementary schools, and food banks, CBSA officers are trained to exercise sound judgment and CBSA management approval is required when carrying out IRPA authorities in certain settings,” reads the statement from Cameron. The agency also said officers conducting investigations work in plain clothes, but carry official identification and badges and identify themselves when exercising their legal powers. CBSA said it was legally obligated to remove foreign nationals subject to enforceable removal orders, while seeking to balance that responsibility with the need to mitigate risks to individuals and the public. ‘This is my home’ The climate of fear isn’t limited to one neighbourhood. For Olufunlayo, it’s the life she’s built in Quebec that’s now at risk. We are using only her first name and have agreed to measures to conceal her identity because she fears for her safety if she is identified. The 61-year-old Nigerian woman arrived in Quebec in 2022 after fleeing violence and persecution she said were connected to her sexual orientation. Her refugee claim was rejected, and she is now facing deportation on Nov. 19, despite having built a life in Quebec. “I’m so scared for my life going back to my country Nigeria because of the experiences I had there,” said Olufunlayo. “I feel comfortable here and I feel this is my home.” She works nights as a health-care aide at a Montreal hospital and volunteers with an organization supporting immigrants, newcomers and refugees. She also described French as a language she had grown to love and a major part of her connection to Quebec. “I’m willing to continue to give back to the society because the government has done a lot to assist me,” said the woman. “I really want to stay here and assist the government in the least little way I can, to make Quebec, and Canada, an even better place.” Olufunlayo is also making a public appeal to be allowed to remain in Quebec, asking the federal government to reconsider her case, arguing that returning to Nigeria would put her at risk of further abuse. There is also a petition circulating that calls for her deportation to be stopped, urging the federal immigration minister to suspend her removal. Meanwhile, community groups have been mobilizing through a campaign called Park-Ex Rises Up Against Deportations, calling for an end to intimidation and a broader regularization program for undocumented residents. Involved groups said the stakes are about more than immigration enforcement; they are about whether people who need help can still feel safe enough to ask for it.
