A recently released report from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) reveals that 2025 will mark a grim milestone for Indian nationals in Canada, with the highest number of deportations recorded in a single year. According to CBSA data, between January and October 2025 alone, authorities enforced the removal of 2,831 Indian citizens — a sharp 41 percent increase over the 1,997 removals recorded in 2024.
The surge underscores a continuing trend: deportations of Indian nationals have been climbing steadily. To illustrate, in 2019 the number stood at a modest 625 removals. As of October this year, Canadians of Indian origin constituted the second-largest nationality group subjected to enforced removals, behind only Mexican nationals who saw 3,972 deportations over the same period.
In addition to those already deported, individuals of Indian origin make up the largest share of those currently awaiting removal. CBSA’s “removals-in-progress” inventory lists 6,515 Indian nationals among a total of 29,542 pending removals as of late 2025.
Overall, the upward trend reflects broader tightening of immigration and asylum procedures by Canadian authorities. The CBSA reports that many of the enforced removals this year are tied to non-compliance related to rejected refugee claims — the largest category of removals in 2025, with 15,605 such cases. In a statement, the agency noted that among all removals this year, 841 involved individuals deemed seriously inadmissible under grounds such as national security threats, organised crime, human-rights violations or criminality; while the data does not break down this figure by nationality, it points to the increasing role of security and strict vetting in the enforcement process.
Beyond the deportations themselves, new policies are making return to Canada more difficult and costly for those removed. From April 2025 onwards, the CBSA — under a revamped cost-recovery framework — increased the fees for individuals seeking to return after deportation. Under the new scheme, escorted removals now incur costs of approximately 12,800-Canadian-dollars, compared with roughly 1,500 previously. For unescorted removals, the fee is now set at just over 3,800 Canadian dollars.
Experts warn that these developments may have serious implications for Indian students, temporary workers and asylum seekers in Canada — sectors that have witnessed surging migration from India in recent years. Many prospective immigrants now face the reality of tighter enforcement, increased scrutiny and higher financial costs in the event of forced removal.
As the year draws to a close, statistics from CBSA point to a grim record: 2025 has not only surpassed previous years in deportations of Indian nationals — it may reshape the landscape of Indian migration to Canada, at least for the near future.
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