Detention reviews are carried out for foreign nationals or lawful permanent residents who have been held by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for immigration-related reasons by the Immigration Division (ID) of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB).

When the CBSA detains a person, it must undertake a detention review to establish if there are adequate grounds to keep the individual in custody under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). Within 48 hours of incarceration, the ID will review the reasons for detention (or as soon as feasible thereafter). The review will be heard by a member (decision-maker)of the IRB according to the IRB tribunal procedure. The process is adversarial in nature. The hearings are also open to the public, therefore members of the media and the general public are welcome to attend and report on them.

If the individual is not released after the 48-hour review, the next detention review must be scheduled within 7 days, and if the person is not released after the 7-day review, additional detention reviews must be scheduled every 30 days going forward.