Calgary (Rajeev Sharma): The truck driver responsible for the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus crash is closer to being deported from Canada after federal immigration officials rejected one of his final requests to remain in the country, according to his lawyer.
Michael Greene, who represents Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, said Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has denied a pre-removal risk assessment, a decision that clears the way for removal proceedings to move forward.
“With this decision, the process is now underway, and the Canada Border Services Agency is legally required to act as soon as possible,” Greene said in an interview on Thursday.
While the timing of the deportation remains uncertain, Greene said he intends to seek a temporary deferral until another application — requesting the restoration of Sidhu’s permanent resident status on humanitarian grounds — is reviewed.
“They are expected to proceed, but there are situations where discretion is exercised,” Greene said.
Sidhu, a Calgary-based truck driver at the time, ran a stop sign at a rural intersection near Tisdale, Sask., in April 2018, colliding with a bus carrying the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Humboldt Broncos. The crash claimed 16 lives and left 13 others injured, triggering an outpouring of grief across the country.
Sidhu later pleaded guilty to dangerous driving charges and was sentenced to eight years in prison. Court proceedings revealed he had been hired by a small trucking company just weeks before the crash and had immigrated to Canada in 2014 as a permanent resident shortly after getting married.
Under Canadian immigration law, a permanent resident convicted of an offence carrying a sentence of more than six months becomes inadmissible to remain in the country. Sidhu was granted full parole in 2023, and in 2024 the Immigration and Refugee Board ordered his deportation.
Greene said the rejection of the pre-removal risk assessment, which Sidhu learned about on Wednesday, was anticipated.
“It’s an extremely difficult standard to meet, and his request to stay in Canada is not based on personal danger,” Greene said, noting the application mainly served to delay removal.
He added that deportation could not proceed while the assessment was under review, but that safeguard has now ended.
Greene said he is evaluating whether to challenge the decision in Federal Court and will also pursue a deferral while the humanitarian application is considered. Sidhu has two children, one of whom has significant medical needs.
“We will be asking that the family not be separated by sending him to India,” Greene said, estimating deportation could occur within two to three months if no deferral is granted.
According to Greene, the prolonged uncertainty has taken a heavy emotional toll on Sidhu and his family.
“This has been hanging over them for years and has never truly gone away. It has only become more intense,” he said, adding that Sidhu is receiving ongoing psychological counselling.
“He continues to relive what happened. Even though some people have forgiven him, he has not forgiven himself.”
Meanwhile, some families of the victims support the deportation moving ahead. Chris Joseph of St. Albert, Alta., whose son Jaxon was among those killed, said removal would mark an important step in his own healing process.
“This would close a major chapter for us,” Joseph said. “If deportation happens, it may be the one thing that finally brings us a small sense of peace — and perhaps the beginning of forgiveness, if that’s even possible.”
