Canada recorded 4,526 enforced removals of Indian citizens through Sept. 30, the largest citizenship group in the year’s tally and already above its full-year 2025 count, according to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) data.
The Indian citizens’ share was about 27.5% of the 16,426 removals recorded across all citizenships. Mexican citizens ranked second, with 2,547 removals.
The 2026 count for Indian citizens has passed the 3,779 recorded in all of 2025, when Mexico led the CBSA’s annual tally with 4,837. India was also the largest group in 2020, with 1,424 removals compared with 1,391 for Mexico. Mexico led from 2021 through 2025.
A separate CBSA measure, the removal-in-progress inventory, included 11,393 Indian citizens among 52,457 cases as of Sept. 30. The inventory counts individuals who can be processed for removal; it is separate from completed removals. The agency says officials work with people and foreign governments to address requirements such as travel documents.
The CBSA says its removals program is intended to uphold Canada’s immigration system. It lists three kinds of removal orders: a departure order requires someone to leave within 30 days after it becomes enforceable; an exclusion order generally bars return for one year, or five years in cases of misrepresentation, unless authorization is granted; and a deportation order bars return unless authorization is granted.
Most foreign nationals leave voluntarily after being ordered to depart, the CBSA says. About 8% of enforced removals may require an escort. People generally pay their own travel costs; the agency covers them when a person cannot or will not pay and may seek to recover the expense if that person later seeks to return.
