ICE offices in Canada: When does America’s problem become ours?
By Mia Gilje, March 2 2026—
The United States Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agency has been the focal point of controversy and concern within the U.S. as thousands of Americans are detained, injured or killed.
Aside from our empathetic human nature, those of us outside of the U.S. can’t help but wonder why it matters to us; why we have to view these current events from a perspective beyond that of the worried bystander.
There are five reported ICE offices in Canada — one of which is in Calgary — revealing that this supposedly only south-of-the-border issue is already leaving significant traces of its political intentions and legislative impacts across the continent.
What exactly is ICE, and why are people so concerned?
Over the past couple of months, every news outlet and media space has been occupied by the ongoing discourse surrounding ICE. Whether you’re flipping through stories on instagram or watching Bad Bunny’s Grammy speech, it seems everyone has an opinion. However, simply reading public discussions doesn’t mean you’re engaging in or even understanding them.
ICE was created following the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which was passed after 9/11 as there grew an increased concern towards terroism and international threats amongst Americans. The purpose of the agency is to enforce immigration laws and investigate, detain and deport undocumented immigrants.
However, since Donald Trump’s re-election in 2024, ICE’s budget has increased by approximately 73 billion dollars. The number of people in ICE detention systems, on any given day, has increased by 75 per cent. But these increases aren’t preventing international threats or limiting crime — they’re ripping families apart and targeting law-abiding civilians.
According to TRAC Immigration, as of Jan. 25, 2026, 74.2 per cent of current detainees have no criminal convictions. That means that only an estimated 25.8 per cent of the $73 billion budget increase has actually impacted those committing crimes, and even then, most of these crimes were minor offences such as traffic violations.
2025 was ICE’s deadliest year to date, with 32 people dying in custody according to The Guardian, and 2026 is off to an abominable start with six deaths in ICE detention in January and the two very public fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Moreover, at least 3,800 children have been detained since the Trump administration entered office in 2025.
Why should this concern Canadians?
“Crime does not stop at our borders, and neither do we,” reads the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement website. Currently, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has 90 offices in more than 50 countries — five of which are in Canada, in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Ottawa, operating out of American Embassies.
Now, it’s not out of the ordinary for countries to have international representatives on the basis of immigration and international affairs, and so far, at least as far as it’s been reported, these HSI agents haven’t caused any harm nor do they have any ability to make arrests or execute search warrants. Yet, with the blatant bypassing of the law we’ve seen in the U.S., it’s easy to worry about how long it will be before they begin playing a more significant role in Canada’s international operations.
In December 2025, ICE ordered 20 armoured vehicles from a company operating out of Brampton, Ontario. Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s opinion on the transaction can be summarized as “fantastic.”
The concern doesn’t just lie in Canada’s direct engagement with ICE and other U.S. policies and organizations, since late 2024 Canada has seen its own share of policies restricting immigration.
The slashes to the number of permanent residents and temporary workers are significant. 483,000 permanent residents were welcomed in 2024, whereas the target number for 2026 is 380,000.
The purpose of the cuts is to prioritise economic immigrants like skilled workers, creating a more competitive and priority focused immigration system. Yet, this growing selectivity isn’t just controlling the present population, but is also limiting the potential for future contributing citizens. International Students are being deeply impacted by their own set of stricter guidelines.
Canada plans to cut International student admissions in 2026 by over 50 percent. The plan is to issue only 155,000 new student visas, which is an overwhelming decrease from 360,000 in 2024 and 437,000 in 2025.
Universities, such as the University of Calgary (UCalgary) are highly dependent on the extra-fees international students pay to help fund programs for the entire student body. In 2024, UCalgary lost $11 million in revenue due to a decrease in international students, and this loss will continue to grow as the approximate remaining three years these students would be investing at UCalgary is also going to be missing.
Losing this significant amount of revenue year after year could mean program and resource cuts for every student attending. This could result in diminished quality of education for the students already studying here – domestic and international students alike.
Much like the U.S., these policy changes are also impacting families. Work permits for family members of international students and temporary foreign workers has been heavily restricted. Limiting work permits to just spouses, and international students specifically enrolled in a doctoral program, a master’s program that is 16 months or longer, or a set amount of professional programs.
Being so close in geographical proximity, there is certainly a historical trend of Canada and the U.S. influencing one another’s patterns in policy and governance changes. Between Canada’s own policy changes in the last couple of years and its entanglement with the actions being executed by ICE, little solace is provided in what Canada’s future in immigration relations looks like.
Hostility towards immigrants in this country already has been on an upwards climb. As job insecurity increases and the housing crisis continues with no foreseeable end, many have resorted to relying on scapegoating and anti-immigrant hate as a response.
What can you do?
Keep calling your MPs, Premiers and even PM Carney to action. Research the businesses and companies you spend money at. Prioritise Canadian brands and remove businesses entangled with ICE from your daily excursions. Join a rally or protest as many across Canada have already started.
Most importantly, keep educating yourself and having conversations with those around you. It can be easy to forget the impact of a simple after-class discussion with a professor or sharing stories with a co-worker. For myself, some of the most profound conversations I have are at the dinner table with my roommates. Taking a break from a constant stream of news and media consumption to engage in a real, human interaction is sometimes the breath of fresh air that’s needed to reignite a fire and keep fighting.
One of the strongest and most unique aspects of our nation is the multiculturalistic boiling pot we call home. 23 per cent of Canada’s population is made up of immigrants — that’s more than the total combined population of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
We can’t get complacent when a fifth of our population is at risk.