Canada deported 3,323 Indian nationals in the first six months of 2026, putting the figure on course to go past the record seen over the last six years, according to official data. The number is already nearly 88 per cent of the 3,779 Indians removed during all of 2025, which was itself a record high.

The data comes as Canada tightens its immigration system and cuts the number of temporary residents, including international students and temporary foreign workers. In the first half of 2026, Indians became the largest nationality among those removed from Canada, ahead of Mexicans, of whom 1,573 were deported.

Canada routinely deports Indian nationals mainly for not complying with immigration rules, rejected asylum or refugee claims, visa overstays and visa fraud scams. Data from the Canada Border Services Agency shows Mexico had topped Canada’s deportation list in each of the last five years, with India in second place during that period. India had last topped the list in 2020, when 1,424 Indian nationals were deported from Canada.

The number of Indians deported from Canada was 603 in 2021, 786 in 2022, 1,132 in 2023 and 2,004 in 2024, according to CBSA data. The CBSA keeps a separate database on the reasons for deportation, but that does not provide a country-wise break-up.

Indians also formed the largest group in Canada’s removal in progress inventory, with 7,669 people awaiting removal, the data showed. Canada enforces three broad kinds of removal orders. Under a departure order, a person must leave Canada voluntarily within 30 days, failing which it automatically becomes a deportation order. An exclusion order bars a person from returning to Canada for a fixed period, usually between one and five years. A deportation order permanently bars re-entry unless the person gets written authorisation from the Canadian government.

Canada’s deportation figure this year is also more than two-and-a-half times the number of Indians deported by the United States to India. India’s Ministry of External Affairs said last month that 1,273 Indian nationals had been deported from the US between January 1 and July 22. The latest Canadian data shows a sharp rise in removals of Indian nationals, with India now leading both deportations and the number of people awaiting removal.

With PTI Inputs

– Ends

Published By:

India Today Web Desk

Published On:

Aug 8, 2026 14:32 IST