The Federal Government of Nigeria and the Government of Canada have formed a joint technical working group to reduce persistent Canadian visa delays and establish formal protocols for returning undocumented individuals.
​The diplomatic framework was finalized on Monday, September 7, 2026, during bilateral talks held at the Ministry of Interior headquarters in Abuja. Details of the strategy were officially released on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, by Mary Ali, Head of Press and Public Relations at the Ministry.
​The meeting was led by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Magdalene Ajani—representing the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo—alongside the Chargé d’Affaires of the Canadian High Commission, Mr. David Sproule.
​The initiative addresses recent administrative backlogs by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which saw visitor visa processing times for Nigerians extend to 76 days and study permit waits increase to nine weeks. Dr. Ajani emphasized that delays regularly prevent approved Nigerian international students from arriving in Canada in time for their academic programs.
​Mr. Sproule acknowledged the friction, describing application backlogs as a critical pressure point in bilateral relations, and promised to push Canadian authorities for prioritized processing.
​The strategic action plan establishes three major directives which includes:-
A dedicated technical committee tasked with streamlining application processing standards and addressing systemic bottlenecks for Nigerian travelers.
A formal Standard Operating Procedure between Nigerian migration agencies and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for the orderly return of individuals residing in Canada without legal status.
Policy updates to the Nigeria-Canada Air Transport Agreement (ATA) aimed at introducing direct commercial flights and bypassing traditional Europe or U.S. layovers.
