Canada removed 366 Nigerians between January and October 2025 as part of an intensified immigration enforcement exercise operating at its fastest rate in more than ten years, according to official data obtained from the Canada Border Services Agency removals programme statistics.
The figures also indicated that 974 Nigerians are currently listed in the “removal in progress” category, meaning they are awaiting deportation from Canada.
Updated on November 25, 2025, the statistics revealed that Nigeria placed ninth among the top ten countries whose nationals were deported during the period under review, while also ranking fifth among those awaiting removal, with 974 Nigerians in the inventory.
A detailed breakdown of the numbers showed that deportations involving Nigerians have risen and fallen at different times over the years.
In 2019, Canada deported 339 Nigerians; this decreased to 302 in 2020, then further declined to 242 in 2021, and later to 199 in 2022.
Nigeria did not appear in the top ten categories in 2023 and 2024, but re-entered the list in 2025, during which 366 removals were recorded within only ten months.
This marked an eight per cent rise compared to the number documented in 2019.
The removals are taking place during an immigration clampdown in Canada, with the CBSA now deporting close to 400 foreign nationals every week, representing the highest pace in over a decade.
In the 2024–2025 fiscal year, Canada deported 18,048 people and spent an estimated $78m on the process.
Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the CBSA has a legal duty to deport any foreign national who has an enforceable removal order.
People may be declared inadmissible and subject to removal for a range of reasons including security-related concerns, human or international rights violations, criminal offences, organised crime, medical grounds, financial issues, misrepresentation, or failure to comply with immigration procedures.
The majority of those deported — around 83 per cent — are failed asylum seekers whose refugee applications were unsuccessful.
Cases linked to criminality account for about four per cent of total removals.
Canadian law provides three categories of removal orders. Departure orders require affected individuals to leave within 30 days; exclusion orders restrict re-entry for a period ranging from one to five years; while deportation orders permanently prohibit return unless special permission is granted.
The Canadian authorities have stated that the increased level of removals is part of efforts to tighten immigration targets and respond to concerns related to housing availability, pressure on the labour market, and border security.
An additional $30.5m has been allocated over three years to strengthen removal operations, alongside a commitment of $1.3bn towards reinforcing border security.
The President of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, Aisling Bondy, expressed concern that removals may increase further if Bill C-12, also referred to as the ‘border bill,’ is approved.
“One of the clauses in that bill is that a lot of people will be permanently banned from filing a refugee claim in Canada,” Bondy said.
An analysis of the CBSA figures showed that Nigeria is the only African nation represented in the top ten deportation list for 2025.
Other African countries are grouped under “remaining nationals,” which accounted for 6,233 removals in 2025.
The top ten countries for deportations in 2025 are: Mexico (3,972), India (2,831), Haiti (2,012), Colombia (737), Romania (672), United States (656), Venezuela (562), China (385), Nigeria (366), and Pakistan (359).
Likewise, within the removal-in-progress category, Nigeria (974) remains the only African country listed in the top ten. The list is headed by India (6,515), followed by Mexico (4,650), the United States (1,704), China (1,430), Nigeria (974), Colombia (895), Pakistan (863), Haiti (741), Brazil (650), and Chile (621).
Canada continues to attract Nigerians seeking improved opportunities. Based on the 2021 Canadian census, more than 40,000 Nigerians migrated to Canada between 2016 and 2021, making them the fifth-largest recent immigrant community and the biggest African migrant population in the country.
Figures from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada indicated that 6,600 Nigerians became new permanent residents in the first four months of 2024, making Nigerians the fourth-largest international group to obtain permanent residency after India, the Philippines, and China.
Between 2005 and 2024, over 71,459 Nigerians acquired Canadian citizenship, positioning Nigeria in tenth place among countries of origin for new Canadian citizens.
Canada’s ageing population and workforce shortages have continued to make it an appealing destination for Nigerian professionals and students.
