Inside Canada's mass visa cancellation plan that may target Indians

Amid rising worries about large-scale visa fraud, Canadian authorities are reportedly looking to secure new powers that would allow them to cancel applications for certain categories of visa holders, many of whom are from India. According to a report by CBC News, internal documents reveal that Canada has teamed up with US agencies to track and revoke fraudulent visitor visa files originating from India and Bangladesh. This development comes at a time when Canada has already tightened rules for international students, with Indian applicants facing a major setback. In August alone, nearly 74 percent of student visa applications from India were rejected, which means roughly three out of every four applications were denied admission to Canadian colleges and universities. CBC said that a briefing document shared with the immigration minister indicated that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and American authorities have created a joint task force aimed at blocking or cancelling visas, specifically pointing to India and Bangladesh due to “country-based issues”.

The documents further suggest that these mass cancellation powers would be applicable in situations like pandemics, wars, or for groups of visa holders belonging to particular countries. While Immigration Minister Lena Diab has publicly confirmed that such authority is being explored for emergency situations like health crises or war, she has not mentioned the possibility of it being applied to specific nationalities. A bill to approve this policy has already been introduced in Parliament, and Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is reportedly pushing for its quick passage.

Opposition to the Policy

More than 300 civil society organisations have raised objections to the proposal, arguing that such a move could enable the government to create what they call a “mass deportation system”. CBC also quoted immigration lawyers who believe that Ottawa may be pursuing this power to clear a ballooning visa backlog.

Why India Was Targeted

The internal briefing reportedly pointed out that the number of asylum claims from Indian nationals jumped from fewer than 500 per month in May 2023 to nearly 2,000 per month by July 2024. It also stated that the high volume of temporary resident visa applications coming from India has slowed down overall processing times — from an average of 30 days in July 2023 to 54 days by July 2024. As a result, visa approvals have fallen sharply this year, from over 63,000 in January to roughly 48,000 by June, as officials shifted more resources toward fraud detection.

The report also mentioned a spike in the number of Indian travellers being blocked from boarding flights in 2024. As of July 31, a total of 1,873 applicants had been flagged for extra scrutiny and were issued procedural fairness notices explaining their rights and legal avenues. India has been the largest source of international students in Canada for nearly ten years, but in August, it also recorded the highest rejection rate among all countries with over 1,000 study permit approvals.