Canada granted refugee protection to 7,643 Nigerians between January 2024 and June 2026, making Nigeria the leading African country in successful asylum claims during the period, according to data from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB).
The figures, obtained from the board’s Refugee Protection Division and reported by Punch Newspapers on Saturday, 24 October 2026, show that thousands of Nigerians received protection after their claims were assessed under Canadian refugee laws.
The data revealed that Canada granted asylum to 2,230 Nigerians in 2024. The number increased by approximately 55 per cent to 3,463 in 2025 before reaching 1,950 in the first six months of 2026.
Despite the high number of successful claims, Canadian authorities rejected 3,080 Nigerian applications during the 30-month period. Another 1,530 cases were either withdrawn or abandoned, bringing the total number of Nigerian cases concluded to 12,253.
In 2025, Nigeria recorded the highest number of successful asylum claims among African countries in the data. Uganda followed with 2,089 grants, while Kenya recorded 1,532, Ethiopia 1,522 and Ghana 1,084.
Other African countries whose citizens received refugee protection during the period included the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Cameroon.
The trend continued in the first half of 2026, when 1,950 Nigerians received protection in Canada. Kenya recorded 703 grants, followed by Ghana with 603, Uganda with 521, the Democratic Republic of Congo with 412, Rwanda with 389, Ethiopia with 378 and Cameroon with 300.
Nigeria Accounts for 6.4% of Global Grants
The figures also showed that Nigerian applicants accounted for 6.4 per cent of all refugee protection grants issued by Canada between January 2024 and June 2026.
During the same period, Canada concluded 202,878 refugee claims from applicants of different nationalities, granting protection in 118,656 cases and rejecting 34,546.
In 2025 alone, Canada finalised 79,462 refugee claims globally, accepting 50,067 and rejecting 14,619. Nigeria’s 3,463 successful claims represented 6.9 per cent of all refugee protection grants recorded that year.
For the first half of 2026, the country granted protection in 22,109 of the 49,960 claims concluded. Nigerians accounted for 1,950 of the successful cases, representing 8.8 per cent of the total.
African countries collectively received approximately 35,000 grants during the 30-month period, accounting for about 29.5 per cent of all successful claims. Nigerians represented roughly one in every five successful African applicants.
Thousands of Nigerian Claims Remain Pending
The figures also highlight the pressure on Canada’s refugee determination system, with thousands of Nigerian applications awaiting decisions.
As of 31 December 2024, the IRB had 19,889 Nigerian cases pending. The backlog persisted amid an increase in applications and the time required to process individual claims.
Canada received 107,802 new referrals to its Refugee Protection Division in 2025, while 299,614 claims remained pending at the end of that year.
The board operates as an independent federal administrative tribunal responsible for deciding refugee protection claims. Its Refugee Protection Division assesses whether applicants qualify as refugees under the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention or as persons in need of protection under Canadian law.
Applicants must demonstrate that they face qualifying risks, including persecution on grounds such as race, religion, nationality or political opinion, or risks such as torture or cruel and unusual treatment if returned to their country of origin.
The approval figures do not mean that all Nigerians applying for asylum are automatically eligible for protection. Each application is assessed individually, and unsuccessful applicants may have access to appeal or other legal procedures, depending on their circumstances.
The latest figures provide an indication of the number of Nigerians who have obtained refugee protection in Canada. However, the data alone do not establish the individual reasons for their applications or show that every claimant left Nigeria under the same circumstances.
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