Jenny Kwan Statement on Discontinuation of Refugee Family Reunification Policy
This decision by Immigration Minister Lena Diab is deeply troubling because the government has provided no credible explanation for suddenly ending a policy that allowed refugees to reunite with family members who were not initially declared on their applications. If there were no issues identified with the policy, why was it abruptly changed? Refugees should not be punished for circumstances beyond their control, particularly when they have already endured displacement, conflict and separation from their loved ones.
It is also frankly absurd for the government to tell these families to simply apply through the humanitarian and compassionate process. The Minister knows very well that H&C applications can involve extraordinarily long processing times, meaning this is not a genuine solution for families facing prolonged separation. With H&C admissions targeted at just 1,100 people in 2026 and 1,000 in 2027, the prospect of families being reunited expeditiously is effectively negligible. Telling families in these circumstances to get in line for a severely backlogged H&C process is not family reunification—it is asking people who have already waited years to wait indefinitely. The government needs to reverse this decision and provide a fair, timely pathway for refugee families to be reunited. Minister Diab needs to explain why she has chosen to close a pathway to family reunification that was specifically designed to address gaps in the system. Canada should be making family reunification processes more administratively efficient, not marginalizing refugees even further.
