Canada Opens Doors: New Visa Program Reunites Palestinian Families Amid Gaza Crisis
The Canadian government has officially launched a new temporary visa program that will initially allow up to 1,000 Palestinians with family members in Canada to escape the violence in the Gaza Strip.
The new temporary resident pathway came into effect on Tuesday, Jan. 9, and will offer “a temporary safe haven for Palestinians directly affected by the crisis in Gaza,” the government said.
It comes in response to the “humanitarian catastrophe” taking place in Gaza following Hamas’s attacks against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
"The situation on the ground in Gaza is challenging and volatile,” Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, said in a statement. “These new measures provide a humanitarian pathway to safety and recognize the importance of keeping families together given the ongoing crisis. We will continue to monitor the situation in Gaza very closely as it evolves and adapt our response accordingly.”
To qualify for the program, Palestinians must be living in Gaza, be related to a Canadian citizen or permanent resident who lives or intends to live in Canada, and be supported in Canada by such a relative for a period of one year.
Family members can be spouses and common-law partners, children and grandchildren, siblings and parents and grandparents.
Applications will remain open until Jan. 9, 2025, or when 1,000 temporary resident visa applications have been received and accepted for processing, Ottawa said.
However, Miller also said this week the figure was not set in stone.
"It is conventional for a number of these programs to have an internal number that is established,” the minister said in an interview on CTV News’ Power Play. “This was one that we thought at the outset — in the context of something being done in a relatively short period of time understanding that it's a war zone in Gaza — was something to manage flow, understand what the numbers are, and then you know remain flexible on the fly if we do see numbers that exceed that."
According to CTV News, the program will cost $100 per applicant, or $500 for one family unit, regardless of size.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has also created a dedicated phone line for inquiries about these special measures at 613-321-4243. You can find more information about requirements and how to apply here.
The new program is one of several measures the government has taken to support people impacted by the Israel-Hamas War.
Back in December, the government also announced it was removing fees for study or open work permits for family members of Canadian citizens or permanent residents who had left Israel and the Palestinian Territories since the start of the conflict as well as for those Israelis and Palestinians already in Canada who feel unsafe returning to the region.
It’s the third special humanitarian program launched in recent months by the federal government.
In November, Ottawa began accepting applications that would allow up to 11,000 migrants from Colombia, Venezuela and Haiti to gain permanent residency in the country. Last month it created a similar program for Sudanese people with relatives in Canada in response to the armed conflict that started last year in the African country. Details about that program can be found here.