Why can you be deported from Canada: 10 reasons

Canadian immigration officials may, for some reason, declare foreign nationals and immigrants inadmissible when they apply for a visa or at the time of crossing the border. Such persons will be prohibited from entering Canada and staying in the country. In this case, temporary or permanent residents lose their immigration status and residence permit in Canada.

Why you might be deported from Canada

Canadian immigration officials have the right to declare inadmissible those who:

• pose a threat to Canada’s security: are engaged in espionage, subversive or terrorist activities, are members of an organization that engages in such activities;
• violate human rights or international law: are accused of war crimes or crimes against humanity, are members of a government involved in such crimes or subject to international sanctions;
• have committed a crime in or outside of Canada that carries a prison sentence of 10 years or more. Such crimes include, for example, driving under the influence of drugs, marijuana or alcohol, armed assault, drug trafficking, rape, burglary, fraud or theft of more than $5,000 CAD. Also, those who committed a crime and were sentenced in Canada to more than 6 months in prison become inadmissible;
• are involved in organized crime or are members of an organized criminal group;
• pose a threat to public health: suffer from a contagious disease, tuberculosis, syphilis, or have been in contact with carriers of these diseases, have an illness associated with a sudden loss of physical or mental abilities, with unpredictable or aggressive behaviour;
• have a serious medical condition that requires increased public health care costs — more than $26,220 per year as of 2024. This does not apply to refugees and sponsored family members (dependent children and spouses or common-law partners);
• are unable to financially support themselves and their family members (the minimum amount depends on the immigration program);
• have provided fake information for immigration to Canada;
• have violated any of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act provisions, for example, a temporary resident stayed in Canada longer than allowed, a permanent resident was outside Canada for too long, or a previously deported person tried to enter Canada without a Canada Return Permit;
• have an inadmissible family member: if a family member becomes inadmissible for one of the reasons listed, the entire family will be prohibited from entering Canada.

When you can return to Canada

The length of time you must leave Canada and your ability to return to the country in the future depends on what type of Removal Orders you received from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada or the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

There are three types of Removal Orders:

• Departure Order: under this order, you must leave Canada within 30 days of the document becoming effective. At the airport, you must register your departure with the CBSA staff. If you do everything correctly, you will be able to return to Canada without any problems in the future. If you do not leave Canada within 30 days or register your departure, your Departure Order will automatically become a Deportation Order;
• Exclusion Order: under this order, you will only be able to return to Canada within a year by obtaining Authorization to Return to Canada. However, if you received this order due to data corruption, you will not be able to return to the country for 5 years;
• Deportation Order: under this order, you are permanently prohibited from returning to Canada.

If you have received one of these orders, you can appeal to the Canadian Council for Refugees and Immigration.