NDP calls on Ottawa to do more to get approved refugees out of Gaza

OTTAWA — NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said Monday the government needs to do more to get people out of Gaza who applied for temporary visas through an extended family reunification program.

The program stopped accepting visa application on March 6, 2025, when the 5,000-applicant cap was reached. As of Aug. 1, just 860 people had arrived in Canada under the program.

Kwan, who held a press conference Monday in the foyer of the House of Commons alongside Palestinians whose family members are stuck in Gaza, said the government can find other ways to gather the necessary biometric data in war zones.

The government collects biometric data, such as fingerprints and photographs, to conduct security screening on refugees applying to come to Canada.

“There has been zero political will to try and bring people to safety. We have had situations whereby it is difficult for families to get their biometrics,” Kwan said.

“So we are demanding action from the government. We want alternatives to the biometric measure, we want the government to evacuate and bring people out. We want the government and (Global Affairs Canada) to get on with it so we can negotiate exit visas.”

The Canadian Press has reached out to Immigration Minister Lena Diab for comment but has not yet received a response.

A spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has said there is no way to collect biometrics in Gaza right now, and Israel and Egypt decide who is let out of the territory. Normally, biometric data is collected at a Canadian consulate office.

Omar Omar, founder of the Gazan Canadians League, said his sister applied through the temporary visa program. Omar said she has cancer and an American non-governmental organization helped her secure her exit to Egypt, where she is undergoing chemotherapy.

Omar said he has been asking for updates on what the government is doing to help get visa holders out of Gaza for years, and has been frustrated by the response.

“There are no changes and they repeated the same answers over and over again. You feel like it’s a ChatGPT answer with the same justification,” he said.

“We’ve seen the number of people who have been evacuated by other countries.”

Kwan said that other countries, including France and Belgium, have been able to secure passage for Palestinians out of Gaza and the Canadian government hasn’t hired non-governmental organizations on the ground to help facilitate exits.

The department has said that applicants won’t be able to submit full biometrics until they leave Gaza. It said that while it would forward applicants’ names to “local authorities” to facilitate their exit at the Rafah border crossing, it couldn’t guarantee that they would be allowed to cross.

Najla Alzaanin, a Palestinian-Canadian, also called on Canada to do more to get people out. She said her mother and sister submitted their biometrics at the Canadian consulate in Egypt, one week before Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

She said she has been met with “closed doors” when she’s tried to contact the immigration minister.

“This is not just a policy failure. This is discrimination against us as Palestinian-Canadians who live here,” Alzaanin said. “Canada tells us our family’s lives don’t matter.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2025.