Thank you for advocating for Gazans with family ties to Canada! Due to your voice, on December 21, Canada’s Minister of Immigration announced a new temporary policy to facilitate temporary humanitarian resettlement in Canada for families of Canadian citizens and permanent residents. Through the program, Canada will:

1. offer 3 years of temporary residence to Palestinian Territory passport holders in the Gaza Strip who are family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents (if the family member is residing in Canada), including:
   1. Spouses
   2. Common law partners
   3. Children of all ages
   4. Grandchildren
   5. Siblings
   6. Parents and grandparents
   7. Spouses, common-law partners, dependent children, and dependent children of a dependent child of those who are otherwise eligible
2. facilitate the exit of eligible family members
3. offer fee-exempt study and/or open work permits for individuals who hold a Palestinian and/or Israeli passport and have valid temporary resident status in Canada
4. offer limited health benefits to Palestinian and/or Israeli passport holders who arrived in Canada from Gaza after October 7 7, 2023
5. expedite all existing applications in the family stream

The program launches on January 9, 2024.

We, as immigration lawyers, still have some concerns about the proposed measures, including:

1. only 1,000 applicants will be accepted under the temporary residence stream, and many vulnerable people (orphaned children, people with disabilities, etc.) will not be able to submit their applications in time to meet the cap
2. the program will launch on January 9, 2024, and many lives will be lost while waiting for the program to open
3. the government still hasn’t provided clear directions about how Gazans can apply for these special measures
4. existing temporary residence applications will not be prioritized
5. there is no guarantee that eligible family members will be allowed to exit by Israeli border guards
6. if a family member has died, it isn’t clear whether their spouse and dependent children are still eligible for the program

As we learn more about the implementation of this program, we will send you updates.

Thank you again for your support - it made all the difference.

In solidarity,

Yameena Ansari, Gaza Family Reunification Project