Canada has removed more Indian nationals this year than at any point in its history, and honestly, the numbers are eye-opening. Newly published data from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) shows a sharp rise in deportations, and the thing is, this shift is not happening in isolation. It’s part of a bigger, more complicated story playing out across Canada’s immigration system.
Between January and October 2025, 2,831 Indian citizens were deported, a figure that has practically rewritten recent records. To be fair, Canada has seen spikes before, 1,997 Indians were removed in 2024, but then came 2025, and suddenly everything changed. Overall removals rose from 17,357 in 2024 to 18,785 this year, reflecting a system under real pressure as asylum claims increase worldwide.
Non-compliance at the heart of the spike
Look, the CBSA did not point to a single reason behind the rise, but officials did make one thing very clear: non-compliance remains the biggest driver. And guess what? This category alone accounted for 15,605 cases, making it the largest group of removals.
If you’re being real, this is not entirely surprising. People who don’t follow required steps in the refugee claim process often land straight into the non-compliance bracket. Meanwhile, Indian nationals now form the largest group in ‘removal in progress’, with 6,515 cases out of 29,542.
But here’s the crazy part: Mexico remains the top nationality for actual completed deportations, with 3,972 removals this year. It shows how multilayered Canada’s migration landscape has become.
Serious inadmissibility adds pressure
Technically speaking, not all non-compliance cases are the same. Some involve serious admissibility breaches, and believe it or not, 841 individuals in 2025 fell into this category. These are cases tied to national security concerns, organised crime, human rights violations or major criminal activity.
Criminal cases trigger faster removals
The enforcement angle does not stop there. You won’t believe this: police forces in Ontario have begun explicitly working with immigration authorities to pursue removals in criminal matters. After a mail-theft investigation involving eight men, all accused of stealing more than 450 pieces of mail worth over 400,000 Canadian dollars, Peel Regional Police openly said they would push for deportation alongside criminal charges.
The accused, Sumanpreet Singh, Gurdeep Chattha, Jashandeep Jattana, Harman Singh, Jasanpreet Singh, Manroop Singh, Rajbir Singh and Upinderjit Singh, now face 344 charges collectively. And guess what happened next? Authorities confirmed that immigration consequences would likely follow the legal process.
To be honest, this marks a shift in how policing and immigration enforcement are starting to overlap.
Politics turns up the heat
Meanwhile, the political debate over immigration has intensified. Prime Minister Mark Carney has already signalled changes aimed at faster removal of foreign nationals involved in serious crimes. He promised better tracking, stronger resourcing and a more coordinated system. Eventually, all of this feeds into a larger reform package the government says is needed to maintain confidence in the immigration system.
And let’s be clear, public sentiment has played a role too. Anti-immigrant rhetoric has been rising, and policy decisions are increasingly influenced by questions around security, fairness and system capacity.
The cost of coming back has skyrocketed
Now here’s the part many people miss: being removed from Canada does not automatically block someone from returning in the future. But then comes the financial reality, and trust me, it’s a heavy one.
In April 2025, Canada introduced a new cost-recovery system for people who want to return after deportation. The fees jumped dramatically:
- Escorted removals: Now over 12,800 CAD (up from approx. 1,500 CAD)
- Unescorted removals: Over 3,800 CAD, no matter where the person is travelling
Long story short, if someone can’t afford their return fare during removal, the government pays, and later bills them if they ever attempt to re-enter Canada.
And during all this, one thing clicked: Canada’s immigration enforcement has entered an entirely new phase, stricter, more assertive and shaped by global pressures no country can ignore.
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