Hamiltonians call on Canada to speed up Palestinian family reunification

Justin Chandler · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 17, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

When Mahmoud Fares calls his household successful Gaza, "I don't adjacent person the guts to inquire them, 'How are you doing?'" helium says. "We cognize however they are doing. They're doing bad."

The Hamilton antheral said helium has 16 household members — 10 of them children — in the war-torn region, including his aged parents, who helium said person diabetes and precocious humor pressure. He said they deficiency reliable entree to food, h2o and electricity. 

Due to the territory's unsafe conditions, he's been trying to bring them to Canada nether this country's peculiar reunification measures for radical with household successful Gaza, Fares told CBC Hamilton. 

He said helium applied for them each to get impermanent nonmigratory visas and each passed the criteria. Some person passed inheritance checks but nary person been evacuated, helium said. "I interest for them each time and I anticipation Canada volition support its committedness to evacuate them arsenic soon arsenic possible."

Fares was 1 of 2 household members of Gazans who spoke to CBC Hamilton during a objection extracurricular the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) bureau successful downtown Hamilton Tuesday. The gathering was 1 of aggregate rallies passim the state calling connected the authorities to velocity up its reunification efforts.

Rani Hemaid is simply a Palestinian-Canadian who besides shared his story.

He has has been speaking retired astir efforts to reunite his household and calling for alteration since the commencement of the latest war, which began with a Hamas-led onslaught connected Israel connected Oct. 7, 2023, that killed astir 1,200 Israelis and led to astir 250 radical being taken hostage successful Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. 

Israel's subsequent military violative has killed much than 58,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and wounded much than 139,000 others, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

WATCH | Rani Hemaid says Canada needs to assistance Gazans earlier it's excessively late:

Hemaid's parents fled the warfare and arrived successful Canada done IRCC's resettlement programme successful May 2024, astir fractional a twelvemonth aft Hemaid applied to the Canadian authorities to bring them here. He said his brother's household was besides capable to get retired of Gaza and travel to Canada.

But astir 18 months aft helium applied to get his sister, her spouse and their 5 children to Canada, Hemaid says he's inactive waiting to larn if they tin come. 

On Wednesday, helium told CBC Hamilton helium had conscionable spoken with his sister.

"She said she dies each time a 1000 times seeing her children mightiness dice from starvation, from deficiency of aesculapian treatment, from bombs. She suffers the symptom of seeing them not being capable to enactment similar children," said Hemaid, who came to Canada successful 2014.

Canadian authorities says it can't power who leaves Gaza

Initially, Canada's peculiar reunification programme accepted 1,000 impermanent nonmigratory visa applicants, but successful May 2024, then-immigration curate Marc Miller announced the headdress would grow to 5,000. As of March this year, IRCC says, the bureau reached that cap. 

Applicants request to conscionable eligibility requirements and acquisition information screenings conducted by agencies extracurricular IRCC, bureau spokesperson Julie Lafortune told CBC Hamilton successful an email. Therefore, she said, IRCC is incapable to supply mean processing times. 

"Movement retired of Gaza remains the biggest situation affecting however rapidly we tin assistance Gazans reunite with their household successful Canada," Lafortune said, adding indispensable biometric submissions tin lone beryllium completed aft radical permission Gaza. 

She said Canada continues to stock names of radical who passed preliminary screening with section officials but does not determine who tin leave.

As of July 8, IRCC says much than 1,750 people who exited Gaza and passed information screenings person been approved to travel to Canada. Of those, 864 radical person arrived successful Canada from Gaza connected impermanent nonmigratory visas.

"IRCC volition proceed processing applications nether the peculiar pathway connected a precedence basis. We proceed moving intimately with section authorities — astatine each level — to facilitate the exit of radical successful Gaza and to advocator for their safety," Lafortune said. 

"That's the casual reply for the Canadian authorities since the commencement of this conflict," Hemaid said, adding helium thinks there's much the authorities could do. 

LISTEN: Canada's Gaza visa programme failing Palestinian-Canadians:

On Wednesday, Omar Omar, laminitis of the group Gazan Canadian Families, told CBC Radio's The Current that helium organized demonstrations crossed Canada due to the fact that he's unhappy with the gait of the program. 

He said helium doesn't judge Canada did much, if anything, to assistance the radical IRCC says came present utilizing its program. It's much apt people paid smugglers to instrumentality them retired of Gaza and into Egypt, helium said.

Debbie Rachlis, an migration lawyer moving with Palestinian Canadians and their families agrees. She and Omar told The Current different countries person been much palmy helping radical get retired of Gaza. Rachlis added Canada should asseverate much pressure. 

Rachlis is portion of a radical who filed a lawsuit against the national authorities connected behalf of 53 radical wrong Gaza implicit the delays successful processing visa applications. She called Canada's programme "needlessly complicated" and a "disaster." 

Rachlis said her squad wants their clients to travel to Canada, and an mentation for what went wrong.

Canadians person work to assistance Gazans, says demonstrator

The Hamilton objection saw astir 30 radical stitchery extracurricular the IRCC office. Some were from the radical Independent Jewish Voices, others attended independently.

One of them was Nina Karachi-Khaled of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women. The Burlington pistillate told CBC Hamilton she's a person of Hemaid who wants Canada to bash much for Palestinians. "

The inhumanity, the destruction, the hopelessness that we each consciousness watching what's going connected successful Gaza is beyond belief."

"We are successful a presumption of privilege and we person to recognize that with privilege comes responsibility," Karachi-Khaled said. "We who person truthful overmuch request to springiness back, request to talk up for those that person nary dependable and the ones that are being silenced."

Fares and Hemaid some said they've tried to interaction Immigration Minister Lena Diab to sermon household reunification, but haven't heard back. 

CBC Hamilton asked IRCC if Diab would beryllium unfastened to gathering with radical successful their situations but it did not respond. 

If helium could talk with officials, Fares said he'd inquire them to "look astatine the humanitarian broadside of things." 

"I privation them to recognize that each infinitesimal that passes, I could suffer my sister and her kids," Hemaid said. "They request to enactment now, not tomorrow."