Canada's Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said the man, who had assumed the name of Paul William Hampel, left Canada under close supervision Tuesday morning.
The Canada Border Services Agency took Hampel into custody Nov. 14, after finding he was carrying a fraudulent Ontario birth certificate under his shirt.
According to documents filed in Federal Court in Montreal, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service believes Hampel is a member of the Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR, a successor to the Soviet-era KGB. Officials had asked for his immediate deportation, suspecting him of acts of espionage that threatened Canadian security.
The man confessed his Russian citizenship in Federal Court earlier this month. In exchange for his admission, a judge agreed to protect his real name after he told the court he feared for his life and the safety of his family.
Day said the man received documentation from the Russian government to allow his deportation.
Calls to the Russian Embassy in Ottawa were not immediately returned Tuesday night.
Despite his department's allegations the man was spying for Russia, Day rejected the suggestion that the case might harm relations between the two countries.
"We understand that these things go on in the world. The Russians understand that also," Day said. "This will not hurt relations between the two countries."
Cases involving alleged Russian spies are rare in Canada. The last case was in 1996, when Dmitriy Olshevsky and Yelena Olshevskaya, who went under the names of Ian and Laurie Lambert, were arrested and promptly deported. Friends and co-workers were stunned to learn they were actually "sleeper" agents for the Foreign Intelligence Service.
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