Ottawa, October 1, 2009 — Residents in the Philippines who are significantly affected by Typhoon Ketsana are being offered special measures to facilitate immigration to Canada, announced Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney.
“I would like to express my deepest sympathy and support for the people of the Philippines affected by this terrible disaster,” said Minister Kenney. “This government is moving quickly to reunite Canadians and permanent residents with their families by extending a welcome to those who wish to come to Canada.”
Effective immediately, Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s (CIC) visa office in the Philippines is responding on a priority basis for those directly affected by the disaster.
This will be applied to new and existing applications from Canadian citizens, permanent residents and protected persons who have close family members in the Philippines. They must, however, identify themselves as being directly and significantly affected by the current situation and notify CIC.
New sponsorship applications should have “Philippines” prominently written on the mailing envelope. Sponsors and applicants presently in Canada who have applications in process should notify the CIC Call Centre at 1-888-242-2100 (in Canada only) to identify their existing applications, if they or the family they have sponsored have been adversely affected.
Temporary residence applicants will be given priority processing by the visa office in Manila once they demonstrate that they have been significantly affected by the typhoon.
These special measures are in addition to the up to $5 million for humanitarian assistance and early recovery to respond to the needs of the populations affected by Typhoon Ketsana announced by International Cooperation Minister Beverley J. Oda earlier this week.
For further information, please visit Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s website.
For further information (media only), please contact:
Alykhan Velshi
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Alykhan.Velshi@cic.gc.ca
Media Relations
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-952-1650
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca
