Canada granted refugee protection to 7,643 Nigerians between January 2024 and June 2026, making Nigeria the largest African source of successful asylum claimants during the 30-month period, according to data from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.
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The figures from the board’s Refugee Protection Division showed that 2,230 Nigerians were granted asylum in 2024, rising by about 55 per cent to 3,463 in 2025.
Another 1,950 Nigerians received refugee protection in the first six months of 2026, bringing the cumulative total to 7,643.
During the same period, Canadian authorities rejected 3,080 Nigerian claims, while another 1,530 cases were either abandoned or withdrawn.
Altogether, 12,253 Nigerian asylum cases were finalised between January 2024 and June 2026.
In 2024, the IRB concluded 3,249 Nigerian cases, approving 2,230 and rejecting 811, with the remaining cases either withdrawn or abandoned.
Despite the number of decisions reached that year, the board still had 19,889 Nigerian claims awaiting determination as of December 31, 2024, highlighting the scale of the backlog.
The number of Nigerian cases finalised increased to 5,039 in 2025, with 3,463 applicants granted asylum and 1,377 refused.
That represented an acceptance rate of about 68.7 per cent among Nigerian cases concluded during the year.
Nigeria also ranked first among African countries for successful asylum claims in Canada in 2025.
Uganda followed with 2,089 grants, while Kenya recorded 1,532, Ethiopia 1,522 and Ghana 1,084.
Cameroon recorded 742 successful claims, the Democratic Republic of Congo 732 and Rwanda 710.
Globally, Canada finalised 79,462 refugee claims in 2025, granting protection in 50,067 cases and rejecting 14,619.
The 3,463 successful Nigerian claims accounted for about 6.9 per cent of all asylum applications approved worldwide by Canada that year.
The upward trend continued into the first half of 2026.
Between January and June, Canadian authorities finalised 3,965 Nigerian cases, granting 1,950 applications and rejecting 892.
Nigeria again recorded the highest number of successful claims among the listed African countries, ahead of Kenya with 703 grants, Ghana with 603, Uganda with 521, the Democratic Republic of Congo with 412, Rwanda with 389, Ethiopia with 378 and Cameroon with 300.
During the same six-month period, Canada granted refugee protection in 22,109 of the 49,960 claims finalised globally.
The 1,950 Nigerian approvals therefore represented about 8.8 per cent of all successful refugee claims decided in Canada during the period.
Across the full 30 months, Nigeria’s 7,643 successful claims were more than double those of several other leading African source countries.
Uganda recorded 3,943 grants, followed by Kenya with 3,888, Ethiopia with 2,982, Ghana with 2,000, the Democratic Republic of Congo with 1,867, Rwanda with 1,699 and Cameroon with 1,643.
Nigeria also recorded the highest number of rejected asylum claims among the listed African countries, with 3,080 refusals.
The Democratic Republic of Congo followed with 1,230 rejected claims, while Ghana recorded 885, Kenya 639, Senegal 595, Angola 442 and Chad and Cameroon 343 each.
In total, Canada finalised 202,878 refugee claims from all nationalities during the 30-month period, granting protection to 118,656 applicants and rejecting 34,546.
Nigeria’s 7,643 successful claims accounted for about 6.4 per cent of all asylum applications approved by Canada during the period.
African countries were estimated to have accounted for roughly 35,000 of the 118,656 successful claims, meaning Nigerians represented about one in every five African applicants granted protection.
Canada’s refugee determination system is administered by the Immigration and Refugee Board, an independent federal administrative tribunal operating under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Its Refugee Protection Division determines whether claimants qualify as Convention refugees or persons in need of protection.
Under the system, a Convention refugee is generally someone who faces persecution because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group.
Applicants may also qualify as persons in need of protection if returning to their country would expose them to a risk of torture, death or cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.
Persons seeking asylum may make their claims to the Canada Border Services Agency at a port of entry or to immigration authorities within the country.
Where a claim is found eligible, it is referred to the Refugee Protection Division for determination.
Applicants whose claims are rejected may, depending on their circumstances, appeal to the Refugee Appeal Division, seek judicial review before the Federal Court or pursue other available remedies before removal.
The figures come amid a broader rise in asylum applications in Canada.
The IRB received 107,802 new refugee referrals in 2025 alone, while 299,614 claims from all nationalities remained pending as of December 31, 2025.
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