Indians also led the category for ‘removal in progress’, at 6,515 out of a total of 29,542, according to the Canadian Border Services Agency’s data. Canada has removed a record number of Indian nationals from the country this year, a figure that even surpasses the 2024 statistics. The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), in a year-end release, said that 2,831 Indians were removed from the country in 2025. In the first ten months of this year, the CBSA enforced the removal of 2,831 Indians, out of a total of 18,969.
What’s the reason?
The number of Indians’ removals has only increased. For example, in 2019, only 625 Indian nationals were removed from Canada, a figure significantly smaller than the removals in 2024 (1,997) or those of 2025 (2,831). The reasoning for why such a large number of Indians were being removed from the country was not explicitly specified. However, the category of non-compliance related to refugee claims had the highest number of removals, at 15,605.
The overall removals have also increased from 17,357 in 2024 to 18,785 in 2025. Additionally, Indians also led the category for ‘removal in progress’, at 6,515 out of a total of 29,542. The cohort from Mexico, however, continued to lead the figures for enforced removals, with 3,972 in 2025 and 3,683 in 2024. The highest number of non-compliance related to refugee claims stood at 15,605. The CBSA’s release said, “Of these, 841 were subject to serious inadmissibility (national security, organised crime, human rights violations, and criminality).”
Indians also form the largest cohort in the ‘asylum seekers’ category. Reportedly, at least five persons have been removed from Canada due to their connection to extortion-related violence. CBSA further said that its liaison officers, located across the world, intervened in 5,889 cases to recommend that airlines not allow a passenger to board a Canada-bound flight on the basis of concerns over the validity of their travel documents. Law enforcement agencies in Canada are also seeking expeditious removal of criminals.
In October, the Peel Regional Police (PRP) said for the first time in a release that 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 development came regarding the arrest of eight men in connection with the alleged theft of 450 pieces of mail, totalling a combined worth of over 400,000 Canadian dollars. The arrested men, identified as Sumanpreet Singh, Gurdeep Chattha, Jashandeep Jattana, Harman Singh, Jasanpreet Singh, Manroop Singh, Rajbir Singh, and Upinderjit Singh, face a combined total of 344 charges.
Anti-immigrant sentiment is burgeoning in Canada. In October, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney had also responded to a question on whether his government would focus on deporting foreign criminals. Carney said, “The short answer is yes, there are plans to make in faster, to make it 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.”
However, removal, under certain circumstances, does not mean that the individual cannot attempt to return to Canada, though that process has been made more expensive this year. In January, the Canadian government announced that it was hiking the cost for removed persons who wanted to return to the country.
CBSA had then said in its release that under the new cost recovery framework, the fees will be adjusted from approximately 1,500 Canadian dollars to just over 12,800 Canadian dollars for escorted removals and just over 3,800 Canadian dollars for unescorted removals, regardless of destination. The hiked cost framework came into force in April.
“Individuals being removed from Canada are required to pay for their own travel costs. In situations where the inadmissible person is unable or unwilling to pay, the CBSA covers the cost to ensure that they are removed in a timely manner. Costs are recovered by the Government of Canada when an individual who was removed at the government’s expense seeks to return to Canada,” the statement said.
