Canada-India tensions devastate tourism sector as visa halt upends travel plans

Yajur Chauhan stood alone at Humayun's Tomb on a weekday morning in early October, watching the 16th-century Mughal monument sit nearly empty. For more than 25 years, he has guided groups of Canadian tourists through these halls, explaining the architecture and history to visitors who saved for years to make the trip. That morning, there was no one to guide. His calendar had emptied almost overnight.

The reason was diplomatic: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had publicly alleged that Indian agents were involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh activist and Canadian citizen shot outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, in June. India responded by halting visa processing for Canadian citizens—a move that landed squarely on the shoulders of people like Chauhan, who had already weathered two years of pandemic-driven cancellations that depleted his savings. "All of my tours are now getting cancelled," the 52-year-old told CBC News. "Nobody is coming because of the visa issues. I'm helpless."

Chauhan was far from alone. Chandar Bhan, a 38-year-old driver in Delhi who specializes in ferrying Canadian tourists, normally completes four or five trips by October during India's peak travel season, which runs from October through March when the weather cools. By mid-October, he had completed none. "There is no other work," he said. The timing was brutal: Canada ranks among the top five countries sending tourists to India, with more than 277,000 Canadians visiting in 2022, up sharply from 80,000 in 2021 as travel resumed after lockdowns. The visa suspension hit just as the industry's busiest season was beginning.

For travel agencies, the impact was measured in millions. Nazir Karnai, president of Explore India Journeys in Vancouver, had more than 500 clients booked to travel between October and March. Only 10 percent held visas issued before the processing halt. Most were retirees who had saved for decades to see the Taj Mahal and other iconic sites. Some had paid tens of thousands of dollars in non-refundable deposits. "They have saved every single penny all their life to fulfil their dream," Karnai said, "and now their dreams have been shattered." His company alone lost between $4 million and $5 million in cancelled bookings. Beyond the financial toll, Karnai found himself trying to reassure frightened clients that India remained safe, even as political animosity between the two countries deepened.

The economic damage extended beyond tourism. Canada supplies more than half of India's lentil imports—a staple so fundamental to Indian cooking that meals are considered incomplete without them. Last year, India imported $370 million worth of goods from Canada, with lentils making up the majority. From April to July 2023, Indian imports of Canadian lentils jumped 420 percent compared to the same period in 2022, driven by severe drought that had reduced India's own harvest by 20 percent and sent prices climbing. In homes across India, including those of Bharti Jadhav, a cook in Mumbai who prepares meals for five families, lentils appear in every single meal. "At least 250 grams of dal are used in every household," the 30-year-old said, using the Hindi word for lentils. "And not just one kind of dal, all kinds."

Two Canadian lentil exporters told Reuters they were anxious about whether Indian importers would hesitate to complete future purchases. Yet some industry leaders downplayed the risk. Bimal Kothari, chairman of the India Pulses and Grains Association, argued that the lentil trade was too economically important to become collateral damage in a political dispute. "I don't think that this political situation will have much impact on the lentils trade unless it worsens further and further," he told CBC News. "Then we do not know what may happen." The qualifier hung in the air—a reminder that the full consequences of the diplomatic rift remained uncertain, dependent on whether tensions continued to escalate or began to ease.