Diplomatic thaw opens the door for a fresh India–Canada immigration surge

Vikrant Gungash
Jun 19
3 min read

By Vikrant Singh, June 19, 2025

Canada and India will restore full diplomatic and consular services after Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi agreed to reinstate high commissioners and “return to regular services to citizens and businesses” during talks on the sidelines of the G7 summit in the Canadian Rockies.

Why migrants, students and employers are cheering

Visa counters back online. In-person immigration and passport services at Canada’s four regional consulates in India—Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Mumbai—were shuttered for nearly 18 months, forcing applicants to route everything through New Delhi and adding months to processing times. Ottawa says these offices will reopen “within weeks,” with staff redeployed as soon as new high commissioners are sworn in.
Restoring processing targets. India has been Canada’s largest source of newcomers for seven years, supplying more than a quarter of all new permanent residents and nearly half of international students. Officials believe resuming normal staffing levels will help Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada hit its 2025 target of 500,000 new PR admissions.
Work-permit backlog relief. Employers in tech, health care and construction have complained that the diplomatic freeze stalled Labour Market Impact Assessments and Global Talent Stream permits for Indian nationals. Business groups predict the détente will “clear the logjam” just as Canada tries to plug a record labour-market shortfall.

From flash-point to fresh start

Relations cratered in September 2024 when then-prime minister Justin Trudeau publicly alleged Indian involvement in the assassination of Canadian Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and expelled New Delhi’s envoy. India retaliated by halting visa issuance for Canadians and ordering Ottawa to cut two-thirds of its diplomatic staff.

Carney, who took office in March, has struck a more pragmatic tone, saying the two democracies “cannot let transnational repression derail a relationship that underpins prosperity and mobility for millions of people.” Modi echoed that sentiment, calling the reset a step that will “benefit families, students and businesses in both nations.”

Immediate immigration impacts

Programme	Status during dispute	What changes now
Visitor & student visas	Biometric centres closed; median wait 12 weeks	All VACs to reopen; two-week Student Direct Stream standard reinstated
Permanent-residence interviews	Virtual only in New Delhi	Face-to-face interviews resume in regional consulates
Passport renewals for Canadians in India	Issued solely in the embassy; backlog >11,000	Walk-in services restart outside Delhi
Employer compliance inspections	Paused except for virtual audits	Physical site inspections resume, clearing LMIA queue

What’s next?

Trade and mobility talks. Negotiators will revive the suspended Early Progress Trade Agreement in July, with a talent-mobility annex expected to be tabled.
Security cooperation. Both sides agreed to a dedicated channel to share intelligence on extremism and foreign interference—an assurance Ottawa insisted upon before reopening visa offices.
Education boom 2.0. Canadian universities anticipate a rebound in September intakes after last year’s dip in Indian enrolments; several institutions are planning recruitment fairs in Mumbai and Hyderabad in August.

Bottom line

The return of ambassadors does more than close a diplomatic wound—it reactivates one of the world’s most important migration corridors. With student season looming and Canada’s ambitious 2025 immigration targets on the horizon, applicants now have a clear signal: the paperwork gridlock is easing, and the Indo-Canadian people-to-people pipeline is open again.

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