Not less than 974 Nigerians are currently facing deportation from Canada as authorities step up immigration enforcement at the fastest pace in more than a decade, official data indicates.
The figures, drawn from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) removals programme statistics and updated on November 25, 2025, place the affected Nigerians in the agency’s “removal in progress” inventory, indicating that their deportation processes are ongoing.
The data also shows that Nigeria ranks fifth among countries with the highest number of nationals awaiting removal and ninth among the top 10 nationalities already deported from Canada in 2025.
Within the same period, 366 Nigerians were deported between January and October 2025, marking a sharp resurgence in removals after Nigeria failed to appear among the top 10 deportation nationalities in 2023 and 2024.
Historical figures indicate that Nigerian deportations from Canada have fluctuated in recent years. In 2019, 339 Nigerians were removed, a figure that dropped to 302 in 2020, 242 in 2021, and 199 in 2022.
Nigeria’s return to the deportation list in 2025, with 366 removals in just 10 months, represents an eight per cent increase over the 2019 figure.
The deportations are occurring amid an aggressive immigration clampdown, with the CBSA now removing nearly 400 foreign nationals every week, the highest rate recorded in over a decade.
In the 2024–2025 fiscal year, Canada removed 18,048 individuals, spending approximately $78 million on deportation operations.
Under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the CBSA is legally mandated to remove any foreign national issued an enforceable removal order. Grounds for removal include security concerns, human or international rights violations, criminality, organised crime, health issues, financial reasons, misrepresentation, and non-compliance with immigration rules.
According to the CBSA data, about 83 per cent of those removed are failed refugee claimants whose asylum applications were denied, while criminality accounts for around four per cent of deportations.
Canadian law provides for three types of removal orders: departure orders, which require individuals to leave within 30 days; exclusion orders, which bar re-entry for one to five years; and deportation orders, which permanently prohibit return unless special authorisation is obtained.
The Canadian government says the intensified removals are aimed at tightening immigration targets and addressing housing shortages, labour market pressures, and border security concerns. To support these efforts, Ottawa has earmarked an additional $30.5 million over three years to strengthen deportation operations and committed $1.3 billion to enhance border security.
However, Aisling Bondy, president of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, has warned that deportations could rise further if Bill C-12, also known as the “border bill,” is passed.
“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.
Analysis of the CBSA statistics shows that Nigeria is the only African country listed among the top 10 nationalities for deportations in 2025, with other African countries grouped under “remaining nationals,” which accounted for 6,233 removals during the period.
The leading countries by removals 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, in the removal-in-progress inventory, Nigeria (974) is the only African country among the top 10, led by India (6,515) and Mexico (4,650).
Despite the crackdown, Canada continues to attract Nigerians seeking better economic and educational opportunities. The 2021 Canadian census shows that more than 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 indicates that 6,600 Nigerians became permanent residents in the first four months of 2024, ranking Nigeria fourth behind India, the Philippines and China.
Between 2005 and 2024, over 71,459 Nigerians acquired Canadian citizenship, placing Nigeria 10th among source countries for new citizens.
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