May 26, 2023—Toronto—Strong humanitarian partnerships to navigate complex geopolitical realities are crucial in bringing Afghans to safety in Canada. The Government of Canada continues to work with like-minded countries, partners in the region and non-governmental organizations to facilitate the safe movement of Afghans destined for Canada.
As part of a growing partnership with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced today that the Government of Canada has reached an agreement with the UAE, which will increase safe passage options for Afghans destined for Canada. As part of this partnership, Canada will resettle up to 1,000 Afghan nationals who were evacuated from Afghanistan following the fall of Kabul and are currently in the UAE.
With today’s charter flight into Toronto, over 650 Afghan nationals have already arrived in Canada under this cooperation. Today’s arrivals are destined to over 15 communities across Canada, including Kingston, St. Catharines, Toronto and Vancouver.
In 2022, also through cooperation with the UAE, Canada welcomed 3 flights of Afghan nationals, bringing our total arrivals from the UAE to over 1,500 to date.
Despite the ongoing challenges and the difficult work ahead of us, we remain on track to achieve our goal of resettling at least 40,000 vulnerable Afghans by the end of 2023. To date, we have welcomed nearly 32,000 individuals to Canada.
The Government of Canada thanks the UAE for their significant efforts and partnership to help facilitate the safe passage of displaced Afghan nationals to Canada and other resettlement countries around the world.
