In financial year 2024, some 198,929 people were stopped by officials at the US‘s border with Canada, according to data from US Customs and Border Protection. These encounters typically involve those who either do not have the proper documentation to enter the US or are seeking asylum.
It marks a slight increase on the 189,402 such individuals recorded in financial year 2023, and is almost double the 109,535 encounters logged in financial year 2022.
Meanwhile, almost 40,000 people were stopped between October and December 2024, the data shows.
A breakdown by nationality reveals that, of those stopped in financial year 2024, 43,764 were Indian nationals, 36,089 were Canadian, 12,414 were Chinese and 8,947 were Filipino.
These numbers reflect Canadian immigration trends. Data from Immigration.ca lists India, China and the Philippines as the biggest source countries for Canadian migration.
The figures do not give a breakdown of how many of those apprehended at the border were in Canada on a study permit, and such figures do not appear to be publicly available.
However, at a press briefing earlier this week, Canada’s immigration minister Marc Miller told reporters: “Since launching our system to verify every study permit application that corresponds with an authentic letter of acceptance – which has been a challenge over the past year – from an accredited DLI, we’ve seen a 91% drop in illegal US crossings by those holding a Canadian study permit.”
His statement follows intense scrutiny on Canada’s study permit processes after reports that Canadian study permits may be being exploited by human traffickers as a means to illegally smuggle people over the border into the US.
A statement released late last year by India’s financial law enforcement body linked a case where a Gujarati family of four perished in sub-freezing temperature on the northwest border to a trafficking ring it claimed was working with two unnamed businesses sending Indian students to over 260 Canadian institutions.
There is no suggestion the institutions – also as yet unnamed despite queries from The PIE News – were aware of any such trafficking activities and it is not known whether the agents referred to in the press release were actively part of the “well-planned conspiracy”.
Although the reports have drawn scepticism from a Canadian higher education expert speaking exclusively to The PIE, stakeholders have called the claims “truly shocking” and a “wake-up call” for the sector.
Data obtained by Canadian news outlet The Globe and Mail reveal that there were almost 50,000 ‘no-shows’ – those who had secured a study permit to enter Canada but failed to enrol at their chosen institution – recorded in the country in just two months of 2024.
Despite clamping down on sanctions for institutions that fail to report international students’ compliance to the IRCC in November 2024, Canada still has the least strict reporting rules of the big four study nations.
While UK institutions have just 10 working days to report no-shows and their US and Australian counterparts given around a month, Canadian institutions are required to submit a compliance report within 60 days of receiving a request.
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