Days from being deported, an 11th-hour decision by a Federal Court justice on Friday means that Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, who was found responsible for the fatal Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018, can stay in Canada for a little while longer.
Sidhu was behind the wheel of the semi-truck that blew through an oversized stop sign with a flashing yellow light, right into the path of the Saskatchewan junior hockey team’s bus, on April 6, 2018. The collision killed 16 players and staff and injured 13 others.
He was scheduled to be deported and board a plane for India early Monday morning.
However, in a decision after a hearing on Friday, Federal Court Justice Jocelyne Gagné granted a temporary deferral pending the outcome of an earlier Federal Court case, which challenged the Canada Border Services Agency’s (CBSA) decision not to delay Sidhu’s deportation while he waits for a ruling on an application to stay in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
His lawyers say it could be several months before a decision is made.
Sidhu pleaded guilty in January 2019 to 16 counts of dangerous driving causing death and 13 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm, and on March 22 of that year he was sentenced to eight years in prison — the longest sentence in Canadian history for that crime that didn’t involve alcohol, drugs or purposeful behaviour.
Sidhu was granted full parole in 2023. One year later, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada removed his permanent resident status and ordered his deportation.
His immigration lawyer, Michael Greene, a senior partner at Sherritt Greene Immigration Law in Calgary, has filed an application for Sidhu to remain in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, arguing he has young children who would be affected. His son was born with a rare lung disorder, and doctors have told the couple that living in India, with its poor air quality, would put him at risk.
As well, his lawyers say Sidhu is living with mental health issues that could worsen after he is deported. His wife, Tanvir Mann, fears he won’t get the counselling he needs because mental illness can be stigmatized in India.
Earlier this year, Sidhu learned that a pre-removal risk assessment determined he would not be in danger if he’s deported to India.
His lawyers asked the CBSA to grant a temporary deferral of his removal, but it was denied.
Court hears application to defer deportation
In a last-ditch effort on Friday, Sidhu’s legal team asked the Federal Court to defer deportation while they wait for a response on the humanitarian and compassionate grounds application.
Navi Dhaliwal, a law partner at Sherritt Greene, argued that Sidhu is at imminent high risk of suicide if he’s returned to India.
“This is not about the availability of treatment. This is about our client, quite frankly, not needing any treatment in India because he is quite likely to commit suicide upon return. This is about his harm upon removal,” she told the court.
Senior partner Michael Sherritt added that Sidhu should not be penalized because the processing time for immigration cases is so long.
But Alexander Menticoglou, counsel for the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, said it could take 17 months for the first stage of the humanitarian and compassionate application, and the law says deferral is limited to short-term emergency considerations — a few months at most.
He also argued that the evidence from doctors’ reports doesn’t support an imminent risk of suicide.
“The applicant is a convicted criminal and he’s responsible for the deaths of 16 Canadians,” Menticoglou said. “This ranks along the worst tragedies in Canada’s history, and we don’t have to assess the applicant’s moral blameworthiness for that crime because …”
“There was a criminal court for that,” Justice Jocelyne Gagné interrupted. “All of that was dealt with in the criminal court and the sentence that was imposed.”
“Yes. He’s a highly morally blameworthy criminal who’s responsible for the deaths of 16 Canadians,” Menticoglou continued.
While it’s possible to feel sympathy for any applicant, including Sidhu, Menticoglou said Canada’s interest in deporting a criminally inadmissible foreign national outweighs the interests of the applicant to stay his deportation.
In a decision emailed to his lawyers Friday evening, Gagné opted to give Sidhu more time.
Differing perspectives
CBC News has reached out to families and survivors for reaction to the court’s decision. Most said they preferred to wait and see if Sidhu will be deported.
Over the years, some say they forgive him, focusing on the need for stricter, mandatory and standardized training for semi-truck drivers in Canada, while others have said he should have been deported years ago — arguing the crash was not an avoidable accident but a result of serious negligence.
Brody Hinz was the team’s statistician and one of the 16 people killed.
In a statement, his aunt Sharon Strueby wrote: “While Brody’s mother and sister miss him dearly every day, his mother speaks of forgiveness for the truck driver but will never forget his actions that day. We talk about trucking regulation failures and the truck company owners lack of accountability. “
Scott Thomas’s son Evan also died in the crash. After meeting with Sidhu in person, his family wrote a letter to the CBSA supporting Sidhu’s bid to stay in Canada.
“I have a lot of anger towards the system that put him in charge of the vehicle that he was in that day,” Thomas told CBC News in 2021.
“It’s an embarrassment to the trucking association. It’s an embarrassment to our levels of government that are supposed to be protecting us. I hold way more anger and way more frustration with those types of people, with the company that employed them and sent them out on the road that day. He set him up for failure.”
In text messages with CBC News on Friday, Thomas said this latest court decision is just “delaying the inevitable.”
“I doubt this changes the outcome for him [Sidhu], just delays it. In reality, it adds to the cruelty for everyone involved … just make a decision and move on,” he wrote.
“Every time these stories come up, it creates controversy in the Broncos community and in general.”
Deportations from Canada on the rise
Canada has significantly ramped up deportations, reaching a more than decade-high rate of about 400 removals per week, according to statistics provided this week by Luke Reimer, a CBSA spokesperson.
Among the statistics in 2025,
- The CBSA removed 22,576 inadmissible foreign nationals, double the amount from 2019.
- 18,712 (83 per cent) of removals were of refugee claimants who were inadmissible for reasons of non-compliance (Section 41) with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which includes failed refugee claimants.
- 4,748 (21 per cent) of removals were of Mexican citizens, and 3,660 (16 per cent) of removals were of Indian citizens.
- Criminality, transborder criminality and organized crime inadmissibility represented 1,136 (five per cent) of removals.
Earlier this month, the CBSA increased fees for escorted removals to $13,098.96 and $3,905.28 for unescorted removals.
People being deported are supposed to pay the cost of their travel, but if they are unwilling or unable to do so, the agency will cover it to ensure the person leaves Canada.
Removals cost more than $78 million in 2024-25, bringing the total spent on deportations since 2018 to more than $380 million. However, roughly $497,100 in removal costs are recovered each year from foreign nationals who apply to return to Canada.
