No fewer than 974 Nigerians are currently facing deportation from Canada as the country steps up immigration enforcement at its fastest pace in more than a decade.
This is according to official data from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), which shows that the Nigerians are listed under Canada’s “removal in progress” inventory.
The data highlights Nigeria as the only African country ranked among the top 10 nationalities with the highest number of individuals awaiting removal, underscoring the scale of the impact of Canada’s ongoing immigration crackdown on Nigerians.
What the data is saying
The CBSA figures reveal that Nigeria ranks fifth globally among countries with the highest number of nationals awaiting deportation from Canada, with 974 Nigerians currently in the removal pipeline.
- The list is led by India with 6,515 persons awaiting removal, followed by Mexico (4,650), the United States (1,704), China (1,430), and Nigeria (974).
- Other countries in the top 10 include Colombia (895), Pakistan (863), Haiti (741), Brazil (650), and Chile (621).
- In terms of actual deportations, Canada removed 366 Nigerians between January and October 2025, placing Nigeria ninth among the top 10 nationalities deported during the period.
Rising deportations of Nigerians
A breakdown of historical data shows that Nigerian deportations from Canada have fluctuated over the 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.
However, in 2025, Nigeria returned to the top 10 list, recording 366 deportations in just 10 months—representing an eight per cent increase compared to the 2019 figure.
Canada’s intensified enforcement drive
The rising number of Nigerians awaiting deportation comes amid a broader immigration enforcement push by Canadian authorities.
CBSA data shows that Canada is now deporting nearly 400 foreign nationals weekly, the highest rate recorded in over a decade.
In the 2024–2025 fiscal year alone, the country removed 18,048 people, spending approximately $78 million on deportation activities.
Under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the CBSA is legally required to remove any foreign national with an enforceable removal order.
Why are people being removed
According to CBSA, individuals may be deemed inadmissible to Canada for several reasons, including security concerns, criminality, organised crime, misrepresentation, non-compliance with immigration rules, health grounds, financial reasons, or violations of human and international rights.
- CBSA data shows that about 83% of those removed are failed refugee claimants whose asylum applications were denied, while criminality accounts for roughly four per cent of removals.
- Canadian law recognises three types of removal orders: departure orders, exclusion orders, and deportation orders, with deportation orders permanently barring re-entry unless special authorisation is granted.
What you should know
Last year, Nairametrics reported that 3,901 Nigerians were among nearly 50,000 international students issued study permits for Canada in the spring of 2024 who failed to show up at their designated colleges and universities.
This was according to data from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
The IRCC report indicated that out of 30,920 Nigerian students with study permits, 3,902 were reported as non-compliant, and another 1,675 had their status unreported.
