CIMM – Collaboration with Other Departments and Security Partners – Gaza – March 20, 2024

Key Facts and Figures

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) supported Global Affairs Canada (GAC) in the consular operation to assist Canadians and their immediate family members seeking to leave Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank. In total, the Government of Canada has assisted over 2,570 Canadians, permanent residents, and their eligible family members in departing from Tel Aviv, the West Bank, and Gaza (via Rafah).
- The Government of Canada supported over 1,661 assisted departures out of Israel since October 12, 2023.
- As of March 14, 2024, 839 Canadians, permanent residents, and their eligible family members have crossed at Rafah since November 1, 2023.
- Another 79 individuals have departed the West Bank.
IRCC continues to process applications for facilitated temporary resident visas under the public policy for certain extended family members affected by the crisis in Gaza. This is done in coordination with partners across the government, including Public Safety and Canada Border Services Agency.
The lack of Government of Canada presence in Gaza necessitated a multi-stage security screening approach to ensure all admissibility checks were completed prior to individuals being facilitated entry to Egypt, at which point their biometrics would be enrolled and applications finalized before applicants travel to Canada.

Canada is deeply concerned for the safety of people in the region, including those with ties to Canada and Canadians. IRCC has been working closely with GAC, security partners, local authorities in the region, and other countries to support, to the extent possible, exit out of Gaza.
Movement out of Gaza remains extremely challenging and may not be possible at this time, as other countries and actors in the region set their own entry and exit requirements.
Since the Government of Canada does not have a presence in Gaza to conduct screenings and collect biometrics, IRCC is using a multi-stage approach to the application process to support the movement of Palestinians out of Gaza and their onward travel to Canada while protecting the health, safety and security of Canadians.
Under the immigration program, the Department works closely with security partners, to help identify those who might pose a threat to Canadians and to mitigate security risks associated with those who seek to enter Canada.
As part of the multi-stage approach, the Department asks for enhanced biographic information in order to facilitate the security screening process. This enables us to work with security parties to conduct preliminary security screening while applicants are still in Gaza, and finalize applications faster once they leave.

Canada continues to work with partners in the region to facilitate the exit of Canadian citizens, permanent residents and eligible family members including extended family members eligible under the new pathway. We will continue to monitor the situation in the Middle East closely, and adapt our response accordingly.

The completion of security screening is a regular part of immigration processes. Family groups with no eligibility or admissibility concerns who are able to leave Gaza will have their biometrics collected in a third country. Biometrics can only be completed after people leave Gaza, as IRCC has no presence there.

Requesting enhanced biographic details to initiate initial screening prior to the collection of biometrics is part of standard practice in situations where IRCC does not have a presence on the ground, as we did with Afghanistan.
As part of the multi-stage process, the additional background information requested from applicants allows IRCC and its partners to conduct preliminary security screening while an applicant is still in Gaza.