Canada lifts temporary halt on removals to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has resumed removals to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

As of September 23, 2026, inadmissible individuals from these four countries with enforceable removal orders may be compelled to leave Canada, as indicated by these countries having been dropped from the exclusion list on the CBSA’s “Enforcing removals from Canada” web page.

Prior to this change, removals had been stayed by an Administrative Deferral of Removal (ADR) that had been introduced by the CBSA on March 24, 2026.

An enforceable removal order allows the CBSA to immediately deport individuals from Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, or the UAE who hold a departure, exclusion, or deportation order and have exhausted all legal appeals, stays, or risk assessments.

An ADR is a temporary measure imposed by the CBSA to defer removals during a humanitarian crisis, wherein conditions in a country could seriously threaten the lives or safety of the entire civilian population.

Canada’s three types of removal orders are defined as follows:

Departure order: The least severe type of removal order. The individual has 30 days after the order takes effect to leave Canada and confirm their departure with the CBSA. If they comply, they may return in the future, provided they meet entry requirements at that time. If they do not, the order automatically becomes a deportation order.

Exclusion order: The individual must leave Canada immediately and confirm their departure with the CBSA. They are barred from returning for one year, or five years if the order was issued for misrepresentation, unless they apply for and obtain an Authorization to Return to Canada (ARC).

Deportation order: The individual must leave Canada immediately and confirm their departure with the CBSA. They are permanently barred from returning unless they apply for and obtain an ARC, and returning without one may lead to a subsequent deportation order.

An ADR does not prevent the CBSA from removing individuals inadmissible on grounds of designated regime membership, criminality, international or human rights violations, reasons of national security, or organized crime.