The Gazan Canadian League (GCL) and their supporters are organizing nationwide protests on July 15 to demand urgent reforms to Canada’s Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) program for Gazans with family members in Canada.The demonstrations, set to take place on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and at Immigration Canada offices in cities including Toronto, Halifax, and Vancouver, aim to draw attention to the federal government’s failure to evacuate Palestinians from Gaza, despite promises made under the Gaza Special Immigration Measures announced in January 2024.The protests stem from growing frustration with Canada’s TRV program, intended to reunite Canadian citizens and permanent residents with their extended family members trapped in Gaza..According to the organization, not a single Palestinian has been rescued from Gaza by the Canadian government since the program’s launch, despite Ottawa’s claims of supporting Gazans fleeing Israel’s ongoing military operations.“We were promised a lifeline, but it’s been a betrayal,” said a spokesperson for the Gazan Canadian League, a group advocating for families affected by the conflict. “A lot of us have direct family involved.”They claim 645 Gazans have independently fled to Egypt, risking their lives to reach Canada without government assistance.In contrast, the GCL points to Canada’s swift processing of over 13,000 visas for Israeli nationals since the war began in October 2023, describing it as a stark double standard..As of March 6, 2025, Canada capped TRV applications for Gazans, leaving hundreds of approved applicants stranded in a war zone.The group has repeatedly requested meetings with Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Lena Diab, who fled Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War as a two-year-old child.They believe her personal experience would make her empathetic to their plight but claim she has refused to engage with them.In 2024, over 40 civil-society organizations signed an open letter urging reforms to the TRV program, citing systemic barriers and delays..Government data indicates that, as of March 14, 2024, Canada assisted 839 Canadians, permanent residents, and their immediate family members to leave Gaza via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt since November 1, 2023, with an additional 79 individuals evacuated from the West Bank.However, these figures primarily cover Canadian citizens and their immediate families, not extended relatives under the TRV program, which remains a point of criticism by groups.Time will tell, but the protests are sure to once again open up a debate about double standards and how these occurrences have been treated in recent years by both police services and media—in particular, the Freedom Convoy protests in 2022.A 2024 Angus Reid Institute survey found that two-thirds (64%) of Canadians believe police give preferential treatment to certain protest groups.Notably, 59% of 2021 Conservative voters felt pro-Palestinian protesters receive leniency, while 34% of NDP voters believed pro-Israeli protesters are favoured.
