According to the Canadian government, the increase in scrutiny of visas issued to temporary residents in Canada by the end of 2025 has contributed to half.
TRVs include visas issued to tourists, international students and temporary workers. (Reuters)According to an update from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC, between January and November last year, the number of asylum claims submitted dropped by 33% compared to the same period in 2024.
That trend could be even stronger, as IRCC said, “Increased scrutiny of Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) applications resulted in a 55% decline in asylum claims from TRV holders in November 2025 compared to the same month the previous year.”
TRVs include visas issued to tourists, international students and temporary workers.
During the same 11-month period in 2025, Canada saw about 52% (334,845) fewer new student and temporary worker arrivals than in the same period the previous year, IRCC noted. The breakdown provided was 60% or 157,380 fewer new students and 47% or 177,465 fewer new temporary workers.
According to data from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada or IRB, Indians constitute the largest group of refugee claimants, with 43,830 cases pending and 7197 finalized by the end of September last year. In comparison, of the 24,526 cases pending before the Board of Mexican Citizens, 5828 were finalized.
Out of a total of 13,912 claims of Indian nationals referred to the Board, almost equal numbers were accepted and rejected, 1,568 versus 1,600.
Kanwar Sirah, a Mississauga-based immigration consultant, earlier told Hindustan Times that a large number of claimants came to Canada on visitor visas and were sold “package deals” that included a refugee claim. Many of these were based on their alleged support for Khalistan. “I don’t see persecution on the basis of Khalistan,” he said.
Sierrah said there have been “few genuine” cases of refugee claimants from India, over the past few years, “literally flooding the system with bogus asylum claims.”
According to IRCC data, in 2015, Indians filed 380 claims out of a total of 16,050, but by 2023, they filed 11,260 claims out of 143,335. In 2024, those numbers rose to 32,285 out of 171,850.
