The number of Canadian arrest and detention cases in the United States rose to 577 in the 2025–26 fiscal year, nearly 60% above the previous year, according to Global Affairs Canada. The department recorded 361 cases in 2024–25.
Radio-Canada's article gives a different figure, 557, so this story uses the number in the department's published table. The document covers April 2025 to March 2026. According to The Canadian Press, Canadian visits to the United States fell 25% over the same period, from 26.8 million to 20 million.
The department did not explain the rise. Immigration lawyer Len Saunders, who is based in Blaine, Washington, told Radio-Canada that many of his clients are Canadians who have lived in the United States for years, including green-card holders. He said some are worried about their status and that several clients had faced deportation proceedings over past voting. His account describes his clients' experiences and is not a statistical finding in the report.
According to Saunders, his clients include people who have lived in the United States for decades, are married to Americans, have U.S.-citizen children or receive U.S. pensions. Some believed they were in the country legally until ICE officers visited them. Others were stopped and questioned after day trips to Vancouver or Windsor, Ontario, he said.
The lawyer also said some Canadians could face expedited deportation proceedings because of old criminal convictions or visa overstays. He said about six Canadians had contacted him in the previous two weeks over cases related to past voting. Saunders said he now advises clients to check for possible violations before applying for U.S. citizenship. The department did not confirm these accounts as separate statistical findings in its report.
Global Affairs Canada opened 1,981 arrest and detention cases involving Canadians worldwide in the same fiscal year, about 20% more than a year earlier and over 43% above the 2023–24 figure. It handled 7,436 consular cases of all kinds. The 804 cases involving children and families were about 25% higher than three years earlier.
The report also describes consular work during international emergencies. During fuel shortages in Cuba, Canadian officials and airlines helped more than 28,000 travellers return home. In the final months of the fiscal year, officials assisted the departure of more than 1,320 Canadians and other eligible people from the Middle East. The number of Canadians registering their overseas trips with the department rose from 452,160 to 574,338.
The number of such cases in Thailand tripled, the report said, but the department did not explain why. Consular cases involving children and families also rose about 25% over three years, to 804. They included custody disputes, forced marriages and surrogacy. The report also described the return of more than 28,000 travellers from Cuba during fuel shortages and assistance with departures from the conflict-hit Middle East.