Ottawa, 8 August

Canada deported 3,323 Indian nationals in the first six months of 2026, putting the figure on track to surpass the last six years’ record, according to official data.

According to data from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and Border Services Agency (CBSA), the number of Indians removed from the North American country in the first half of this year is already nearly 88 per cent of the 3,779 removed during the whole of 2025, which was itself a record high.

The data comes at a time when Canada has been tightening its immigration system and reducing the number of temporary residents, including international students and temporary foreign workers.

Canada routinely deports Indian nationals primarily due to non-compliance with immigration rules, rejected asylum or refugee claims, visa overstays and visa fraud scams.

Indians emerged as the largest nationality among those removed from Canada in the first half of 2026, overtaking Mexicans with 1,573 deportations.

Mexico topped Canada's list of nationalities for deportations in each of the last five years, with India ranking second during that period.

India had last topped the list in 2020, when 1,424 Indian nationals were deported from Canada.

In 2021, as many as 603 Indians were deported from Canada, followed by 786 in 2022. In 2023, the number rose to 1,132, and further to 2,004 in 2024, according to CBSA data.

The CBSA maintains a separate database on reasons for deportation, but that does not have a country-wise breakdown.

Indians also accounted for the largest group in Canada's "removal in progress inventory", with 7,669 people awaiting removal, CBSA data showed.

Canada enforces three broad categories of removal orders.

Under a departure order, a person is required to 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 specified period, generally between one and five years. A deportation order permanently bars re-entry unless the person obtains written authorisation from the Canadian government.

Canada’s deportation figure for 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.