Canada could commend itself on the fact that only 118 children were held in immigration detention centres in the last fiscal year.

After all, that number has dropped by about 50 per cent in the last five years. And it’s nowhere near the thousands of child migrants who have been detained in the last year in the U.S.

But it shouldn’t. That’s because detaining children with their parents is supposed to be a last resort, so the number of kids being held in these facilities should be zero.

In fact, last June Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said that was his goal.

So why is it still happening?

According to a new report from the Canadian Council of Refugees it’s because Goodale’s 2017 directive to the Canada Border Services Agency to “stop the detention or housing minors and family separation, except in extremely limited circumstances” is being applied inconsistently across the country.

In the last fiscal year, for example, the council found that only three children were housed or detained in immigration centres in Ontario while 104 were held in Quebec.

That’s an experience children often don’t recover from for years after their release. Instead, studies show they exhibit increased symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress and suicidal thoughts, as well as developmental delays and behavioural issues.

Border officials say they detain children with their parents because they don’t want to separate them when the children have no other relative they can stay with.

That’s a worthy goal. But there’s a better way to keep them together.

If the officials are worried that parents are a flight risk, for example, they should simply require them to report to supervisors, make financial deposits, provide guarantors or agree to be electronically monitored.

Zero kids in immigration detention centres is an achievable goal. There should be no more excuses.