Ottawa Increases Cap on Temporary Resident Visas for Palestinians

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller waits to appear before the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, in Ottawa, on Feb. 28, 2024. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Ottawa is setting a new 5,000-person cap on temporary resident visas for Palestinians looking to escape the Gaza Strip—a five-fold increase from the 1,000 visas allotted under a new program announced in January.

The move follows “positive signals” that Israel will approve a program to get Palestinian relatives of Canadians out of the Gaza Strip before its military further invades the town of Rafah, Immigration Minister Marc Miller says.

“Canada continues to put forward the names of applicants who passed our preliminary screening to local authorities,” Mr. Miller told the House immigration committee this week. “Israel and Egypt are both important partners in the implementation of these temporary humanitarian measures. We are working in close collaboration with both governments to facilitate the exit of extended family members and advocate for their safety.”

The Gaza program initially capped applications that could be “accepted into processing” at 1,000, meaning that all paperwork had been completed ahead of eventual biometric processing in Egypt. However, 2,903 applications had reached that step as of May 24, Mr. Miller said.

Immigration Canada had issued 179 temporary-resident permits through the Gaza plan as of April 29, but it isn’t known if anyone has actually reached Canada under the program, according to the department.

“I want to make it clear to family members Canada continues to put in every effort on every level to facilitate the safe exit of their loved ones,” Mr. Miller said. “While we have been limited in our success, it is certainly not for lack of trying and we will and we won’t give up on bringing family members to safety.”

Temporary Resident Pathway

The immigration minister’s comments come at a time of increasing criticism over the measures Ottawa introduced months ago to bring relatives of Canadians out of conflict zones in the Gaza Strip and Sudan.

The NDP has accused the government of bungling both the Gaza and Sudan programs, and not learning from the issues that emerged in resettling Afghans after the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in August 2021.

A memo obtained through Access to Information shows the Immigration Department expected “high volumes” of applications from the outset of the program, despite the 1,000 person cap.

The memo, signed by Mr. Miller in December, says that capping the number of arrivals at 1,000 would provide some certainty, but that high volumes of applications were anticipated.

The federal government launched the opening of its “temporary resident pathway” for extended family members in Gaza of Canadian citizens and permanent residents on Jan. 9.

The program was announced after months of Palestinian Canadians asking the government for help in rescuing their loved ones as the Israel-Hamas war continues.

The temporary residency program is a bid to permit Palestinians to take refuge in Canada for three years as long as their families are willing to financially support them. Eligible relatives include a spouse, common-law partner, child, grandchild, sibling, parent or grandparent of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, as well as the eligible person’s immediate family members.

Upon arrival in Canada, eligible people can apply for a fee-exempt study permit or open work permit to “help them to better support themselves in Canada,” Immigration Canada said in a news release. They will also have access to three months of health coverage under the Interim Federal Health Program to “address any urgent medical needs upon arrival,” as well as settlement services such as language training.

Gaza has been under steady bombardment since the terrorist organization Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing an estimated 1,200 people and taking approximately 240 hostages.

Israel launched military operations against Hamas in response to the attack and proceeded with an offensive in Rafah earlier this month. Israel says Rafah has become a Hamas stronghold and is crucial to routing the militant group.

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly called for a ceasefire earlier this week.

“We are horrified by strikes that killed Palestinian civilians in Rafah,” she wrote in a social media post. “This level of human suffering must come to an end.”

Sudan Program

The Sudan program is for permanent residency while the Gaza program is capped at three years.

“There are very important geopolitical considerations, particularly some of the rhetoric around the emptying of Gaza, and the perception that Canada would be participating in that,” Mr. Miller testified. “That is the reason, principally, that we did not make it permanent.”

Civil war broke out in the North African country last spring, Mr. Miller said, adding that the Sudan program is more thorough because it involves permanent residency.

He said Canada is also welcoming people from Sudan as government-assisted and privately-sponsored refugees, adding that nearly 1,000 refugees were approved to come to Canada in the past year.

Ottawa is accepting 3,250 applications under the Sudan program, from which about 7,000 people will arrive in Canada, he added.

The minister said that number is based on the capacity of his department and “security partners” to handle logistics, but might expand.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.