Canada deported no fewer than 366 Nigerians between January and October 2025 as immigration authorities intensified enforcement actions at their fastest pace in more than a decade, official data have shown.
Figures obtained from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) removals programme further revealed that 974 Nigerians are currently listed in Canada’s “removal-in-progress” inventory, awaiting deportation.
The statistics, last updated on November 25, 2025, ranked Nigeria ninth among the top 10 nationalities deported from Canada within the period under review.
Nigeria also placed fifth among countries with the highest number of nationals awaiting removal.
A breakdown of the data shows that deportations of Nigerians from Canada have fluctuated in recent years. In 2019, 339 Nigerians were removed, a figure that declined to 302 in 2020, 242 in 2021, and 199 in 2022.
Nigeria did not feature among the top 10 deported nationalities in 2023 and 2024 but returned to the list in 2025, with 366 removals recorded in just 10 months—representing an eight per cent increase compared to 2019.
The spike comes amid an aggressive immigration crackdown by Canadian authorities. The CBSA is now deporting nearly 400 foreign nationals weekly, the highest rate recorded in over 10 years. In the 2024–2025 fiscal year alone, Canada removed 18,048 individuals at a cost of approximately $78 million.
Under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the CBSA is mandated to remove any foreign national with an enforceable removal order. Grounds for removal include security concerns, criminality, human or international rights violations, organised crime, health and financial issues, misrepresentation, and non-compliance with immigration rules.
CBSA data show that about 83 per cent of those deported are failed refugee claimants whose asylum applications were rejected, while criminality accounts for roughly four per cent of removals.
Canadian law recognises three categories of removal orders: departure orders, which require individuals to leave within 30 days; exclusion orders, which bar re-entry for between one and five years; and deportation orders, which permanently prohibit return unless special authorisation is granted.
Canadian authorities say the renewed deportation drive is aimed at tightening immigration controls and addressing concerns over housing shortages, labour market pressures and border security. To that end, the government has allocated an additional $30.5 million over three years to strengthen removal operations, alongside a $1.3 billion investment in border security.
Meanwhile, the President of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, Aisling Bondy, has warned that deportations could rise further if Bill C-12—also known as the “border bill”—is passed. She noted that one provision of the proposed legislation would permanently bar many individuals from filing refugee claims in Canada.
An analysis of the CBSA data shows that Nigeria is the only African country among the top 10 nationalities deported from Canada in 2025. Other African countries were grouped under “remaining nationals,” which accounted for 6,233 removals.
The top 10 countries for deportations in 2025 are Mexico (3,972), India (2,831), Haiti (2,012), Colombia (737), Romania (672), the United States (656), Venezuela (562), China (385), Nigeria (366) and Pakistan (359).
Similarly, Nigeria is the only African country listed among the top 10 in the removal-in-progress category, which is led by India (6,515), followed by Mexico (4,650), the United States (1,704), China (1,430) and Nigeria (974).
Despite the rising deportations, Canada remains a major destination for Nigerians seeking education, employment and better living conditions. The 2021 Canadian census showed that over 40,000 Nigerians migrated to Canada between 2016 and 2021, making them the largest African migrant group in the country.
Data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada further indicate that 6,600 Nigerians became new permanent residents in the first four months of 2024 alone, ranking Nigeria fourth behind India, the Philippines and China. Between 2005 and 2024, more than 71,000 Nigerians acquired Canadian citizenship, placing Nigeria 10th among source countries for new citizens.
Analysts note that Canada’s ageing population and persistent labour shortages continue to make the country attractive to skilled Nigerian professionals and students, even as immigration controls tighten
