Nearly 2,000 Indian nationals removed from Canada in 2024
Cases are related to organised crime, human rights violations and criminal activities to ensure the safety and security of Canada and its citizens
Toronto: Nearly 2,000 Indian nationals were removed from Canada last year, a record number.
According to data of removals by citizenship provided to the Hindustan Times by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the number of Indians who were made to leave the country in 2024 was 1,932, a record high.
In fact, that number was over 50% higher than the figure for 2023, which was 1,129. Indians accounted for 11.5% of those removed in 2024, up from 7.5 % in 2023. It was also three times that recorded five years earlier, in 2019, when 625 or 5.6% of the total were Indian citizens.
The total number of removals undertaken by CBSA increased from 15,124 in 2023 to 16,781 last year.
The cohort which featured the largest number of removals was from Mexico, with its nationals accounting for 3,286 in 2023 and 3,579 in 2024.
“The timely removal of inadmissible foreign nationals plays a critical role in supporting the integrity of Canada’s immigration system,” CBSA spokesperson Jacqueline Roby said.
“Cases involving security, organised crime, human rights violations and criminality are considered to be of the highest priority for the safety and security of Canada and its citizens,” she added.
The agency carries out removals based on a risk-management regime. “There are multiple steps built into the process to ensure procedural fairness and the CBSA only actions a removal order once all legal avenues of recourse that can stay a removal have been exhausted,” Roby noted.
The CBSA has a legal obligation to remove all foreign nationals as soon as possible who are inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and have a removal order in force, she said.
Removal, under certain circumstances, does not mean the individual cannot attempt to come back to Canada, though that process will become more expensive this spring.
In January, the Canadian government announced that it was increasing costs for removed persons who wanted to return to the country.
In a release issued on January 3, CBSA said under the new cost recovery framework, the fees will be adjusted from approximately 1,500 Canadian dollars ($1,035) previously to just over 12,800 Canadian dollars ($8,833) for escorted removals and just over $3,800 Canadian dollars ($2,622) for unescorted removals, regardless of destination.
This measure will come 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.
The full cost of removal includes purchasing airline tickets, conducting removal interviews, obtaining travel documents, making removal arrangements, case management, partnership and liaison work, it said, adding that on average, approximately 497,100 Canadian dollars ($343,052) in removal costs is recovered each year from foreign nationals who apply to return to Canada.