This year the figure till July 28 for Indian nationals removed was at 1,891, according to the data from the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA). The number of Indian nationals being ‘forcibly’ removed from Canada is set to hit a record high, surpassing the previous record of 2024 and continuing the upward trajectory since 2019.
The removals for Indians has only swelled over the past years. For instance, in 2019, it was at just 625, less than a third of the 2024 total. This year the figure till July 28 for Indian nationals removed was already at 1,891, according to the data from the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA).
India is at the second spot, followed by Mexicans, 2,678 of whom have been forcibly removed till July 28 this year. Last year, 1,997 Indians were subject for forced removals by Canadian authorities, trailing only 3,683 Mexicans and far over the third largest cohort, 981 Colombians.
Why are Indians being forcibly removed from Canada?
Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier this week responded to a media query during an event in Toronto on whether his government will focus on deporting foreign criminals. The short answer is yes, he said, adding that there are plans to make it faster, with better resources and to improve the tracking.
“That’s part of a broader set of reforms that we are making to the immigration system here in Canada,” Carney said. The question was related to asylum seekers, as well as those on temporary resident permits.
The spike in removals is amid growing anti-immigration sentiment in Canada. On October 10, in a release, Peel Regional Police or PRP, for the first time, stated it was “actively engaged with the Peel Crown Attorney’s Office and the Canada Border Services Agency which will determine whether removal of accused foreign nationals from Canada may be pursued as part of the judicial process.”
The above was in connection with the arrest of eight men linked to the alleged theft of 450 pieces of mail, totalling a combined worth of more than CA$400,000.
Those arrested were identified as Sumanpreet Singh, Gurdeep Chattha, Jashandeep Jattana, Harman Singh, Jasanpreet Singh, Manroop Singh, Rajbir Singh, and Upinderjit Singh. Indians top the countrywise list when it comes to the inventory for removals in progress, with 6,837, followed by 5,170 Mexicans and 1,734 citizens of the United States.
Of the total inventory of 30,733, as many as 27,103 were refugee claimants. Indians also form the largest cohort in the category of asylum seekers.
