CIMM – Afghanistan – March 3, 2022

Key Messages

• Canada remains committed to Afghanistan and the Afghan people, and it will continue to do all it can to support them.
• In keeping with this commitment, I have been mandated to resettle at least 40,000 vulnerable people from Afghanistan. My Department is working diligently in meeting this objective.
• Since August 2021, Canada has welcomed over 7,500 new afghan nationals through our special measures and humanitarian resettlement programs.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has approved close to 10,000 applications for Afghan nationals who assisted the Government of Canada (e.g. locally engaged staff, interpreters), along with their family members. Of these, 4,470 Afghans have since begun their new lives in Canada under these measures.
• Another 3,100 have been resettled to Canada through our humanitarian program which focuses on individuals who supported Canada and our allies over the past two decades, women, LGBTQ2 people, human rights defenders, journalists and members of religious and ethnic minorities.
• Significant work persists in resettling Afghan refugees as quickly as possible. However, due to the ongoing situation in Afghanistan, facilitating travel out of the country remains extremely complex.
• We are working closely with partners and neighboring countries in the region on how best to facilitate the safe movement of Afghan nationals out of Afghanistan so that the processing of their applications can continue.

Supplementary Messages

Funding

• IRCC’s funding for the Afghanistan resettlement commitment is broken down as follows:

  ($millions)	2021-22 Supplementary Estimates (B)	2022-23 Main Estimates	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26	Years 6-10	Total
  Vote 1 – Operating Expenditures	69.9	43.4	1.2	1.0	0.9		111.6
  Vote 5 – Capital Expenditures	0.6	0.3					0.8
  Vote 10 – Grants and Contributions	96.2	58.4	31.5	28.0	25.2	64.4	303.8
  Voted Total	166.7	102.1	32.7	29.0	26.1	64.4	421.0
  Statutory – EBP	2.6	4.1	0.2	0.2	0.2	-	7.4
  Total Funding	169.3	106.2	32.9	29.3	26.4	64.4	428.4
  Full Time Equivalents (FTEs)	110.3	173.8	11.4	11.3	10.2

  Figures may not add up due to rounding

• In total, the Department is seeking $428.4M over 10 years, as well as personnel resources peaking at 173.8 full time equivalent (FTEs) in 2022-2023 to deliver the initial commitment.
• The Government announced, through the fall 2021 Economic and Fiscal Update, that it proposes to increase funding to $1.3B over six years and $66.6M in future years (total of $1.4B), to continue to facilitate the safe passage and resettlement of vulnerable Afghans to Canada.
• Costs include and are not limited to: processing and program support, overseas staging and accommodation costs, refugee referral and identification, settlement and resettlement services and access to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP).

Activities to date

• Canada committed to welcoming at least 40,000 vulnerable Afghans to Canada. This is being achieved through several programs, as outlined below.
• Special Immigration Measures (SIMs) were implemented in July 2021 for locally engaged staff at the Canadian Embassy to Afghanistan and for individuals who had a significant and/or enduring relationship to the Government of Canada. This included their family members.
• A special Humanitarian Program was established on August 13, 2021, focusing on resettling Afghan nationals who:
  • are outside of Afghanistan;
  • don’t have a durable solution in a third country; and
  • are part of one of the following vulnerable groups:
    • women leaders
    • human rights defenders
    • persecuted religious or ethnic minorities
    • LGBTI individuals
    • journalists and people who helped Canadian journalists
• On December 9, 2021, IRCC further announced a special family reunification program to help extended family members of former Afghan interpreters who came to Canada under programs in 2009 and 2012.
• We have also put in place a number of facilitative measures for Afghans, including prioritizing family reunification applications and measures to facilitate extending temporary resident status.

Responsive Lines

Movement of Afghans

• On August 15, 2021, the Government of Canada announced it would temporarily suspend its diplomatic operations in Kabul due to the rapidly evolving security situation in Afghanistan, which poses serious challenges to our ability to ensure the safety and security of our mission.
• Since that time, movement out of Afghanistan both by air and by land have become very difficult. In addition, a key challenge we are facing is that many at-risk Afghans remain in Afghanistan and are unable to leave.
• Canada continues to explore options to facilitate safe passages through exit routes and staging areas, and is engaging with neighbouring countries to facilitate border crossings for clients without visas or passports, and on expediting the exit process. 

Settlement

• We continue to assess resettlement needs and coordinate with receiving jurisdictions, settlement agencies, and health partners to support local planning and reception efforts, and to facilitate links to health and social services.
• Eligible clients receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine pre-departure, where possible and available, along with a PCR test. Upon arrival, the Department collaborates with local public health authorities to facilitate COVID-19 vaccination clinics for those who are unvaccinated.
• As individuals end their quarantine period, we are doing everything possible to facilitate an equitable distribution of individuals across the country, while respecting the capacity of receiving settlement agencies and their communities.

Processing

• My officials are coordinating the Department’s effort on Afghanistan, while ensuring that we also meet commitments in existing immigration categories, including other refugee populations. This will build on our success in 2021 of exceeding our Levels target of 401,000 permanent resident admissions by welcoming over 405,000 new permanent residents.
• We continue to process applications for Afghan nationals as quickly as we can and have adopted facilitative approaches to expedite processes. We have also added resources and mobilized our entire global network for this purpose.

Background

Special Immigration Measures (SIMs)

• SIMs were implemented in July 2021 for locally engaged staff at the Canadian Embassy to Afghanistan and for individuals who had a significant and/or enduring relationship to the Government of Canada. This included their family members.
• Both Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and the Department of National Defense (DND) are responsible for identifying individuals who meet the criteria to have a significant and/or enduring relationship to the Government of Canada. Individuals cannot apply directly to IRCC for resettlement to Canada under these measures.
• Afghans resettled via SIMs are entitled to receive immediate and essential services, income support, and IFHP coverage through Canada’s resettlement programs.

Humanitarian Program

• As part of its broader efforts to resettle vulnerable Afghan nationals, the Minister of IRCC announced a humanitarian program on August 13, 2021.
• This program, for implementation by the end of 2023, includes both government-assisted refugees (GAR) and privately sponsored refugees (PSR) spaces.
• IRCC relies on referral partners to identify individuals for GAR spaces. Besides traditional referral partners such as the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), IRCC has signed agreements with the United States (U.S.), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Front Line Defenders and ProtectDefenders.eu for the resettlement of Afghan nationals. Front Line Defenders and ProtectDefenders.eu will refer Afghan human rights defenders in need of protection.
• Private sponsors play an important role in assisting sponsored refugees in settling into their life in Canada and financially supporting them.  

Extended family members of previously resettled Interpreters

• On December 9, 2021, IRCC opened a pathway to permanent residence for extended family members of Afghans who worked for or assisted the Government of Canada or the Canadian Armed Forces and who immigrated to Canada under previous public policies implemented in 2009 and 2012.
• While some of their extended family members may have come to Canada through existing programs over the years, others have not and may now be in a precarious position as a result of their relationship to the interpreters.
• The program facilitates the issuance of permanent resident visas for children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents and siblings. These individuals can bring their spouses or common-law partners and their dependent children with them.

Enhanced Biographic Information

• As of January 2022, IRCC began collecting enhanced biographic information for existing in-Afghanistan clients. The Department is also obtaining this information from new clients in-Afghanistan as part of the upfront application package.
• The collection of enhanced biographic information seeks to mitigate the lack of in-Afghanistan biometric collection and allow IRCC officers to vet the additional information against thematic security indicators to determine if a referral is required to Public Safety.
• Biometrics collection will occur in the transit country, if there is no derogatory information and IRCC facilitates travel out of Afghanistan.