Lengthy visa delays preventing dozens of Palestinian students from studying in Canada, group says

A group of Canadian professors say there are roughly 70 Palestinian students still waiting on their visas from the government. Heather Wright reports.

A group of Canadian professors is calling on the federal government to speed up the visa process for dozens of Palestinian students hoping to study in Canada.

They say there are more than 70 students in Gaza and Egypt who have submitted visa applications to come to Canadian schools but haven’t heard back. Some have been waiting for nearly 18 months.

“It’s only 70 students and a third of them are already in Egypt,” says Aaron Shafer, a professor at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont. “They could be on a plane tomorrow and in a lab if the Canadian government could process their visas. Germany has been able to do it, France has been able to do it. They’ve expedited visas and there is no reason why we can’t do the same in Canada.”

Among the students stuck in limbo is Tawfiq Abed, a 19-year-old from Gaza City who has been offered a full engineering scholarship to the University of Alberta.

“I am so worried to lose such an opportunity, particularly in Canada,” says Abed. Not only is he desperate to leave Gaza, where he says his family is surviving on rice and lentils, he worries if he can’t get a visa in time, he will lose his scholarship and offer of admission.

“That’s my dream,” he says, of becoming an engineer. “That’s what I am looking forward to.”

In a statement, the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship says, “the primary challenge continues to be ability for people to exit Gaza,” noting that biometrics – photos and fingerprints “can only be completed after people leave Gaza,” and that is the primary slowdown.”

But Shafer says some students submitted complete visa applications nearly two years ago and have yet to hear anything from the ministry.

Getting biometrics – photos and fingerprints – is part of the challenge for students in Gaza as there is no office that provides that type of service. But Shafer says some students submitted complete visa applications nearly two years ago and have yet to hear anything from the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

“I am aware of some students who have had their biometrics since 2023 and are still waiting for it to be processed,” Shafer says. “They have desks waiting for them. All we need is the Canadian government to process their visas and we have a history of doing this.”

Shafer is referring to efforts to help settle those fleeing the wars in both Ukraine and Syria as examples of the government expediting the visa process.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) also says in its statement that “processing times can vary based on a variety of factors, such as whether an application is complete, if IRCC has to wait for additional information, how easily IRCC can verify the information provided, and the complexity of an application.”

“We’re not asking for shortcuts,” says Robyn Paul, a professor at the University of Calgary who has a student in Gaza waiting on a visa. “We’re just asking for these students to be treated fairly so they can come to Canada and study in the great research programs that we have here.”

According to the United Nations, 80 per cent of schools in Gaza have been destroyed during the 18-month war between Israel and Hamas. All 12 universities in Gaza have been bombed and either destroyed or severely damaged. The professors say the lack of educational opportunities in Gaza is another reason to review the visa applications more quickly.

“Everyone has the right to education,” says Paul. “Canadians should be proud to bring them here.”

With files from CTV’s Kristen Yu