Canada opens a pathway to permanent residence for families of the victims of two air disasters who are outside of Canada

August 3, 2022—Ottawa, Ontario - Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has implemented a pathway to permanent residence for the families of the victims of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 (ET302) and Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 (PS752) who are outside of Canada and wish to come here to settle and support members of their family who lost their spouse, common-law partner or parent. This follows IRCC’s initial public policy that offered a pathway to permanent residence for families who were temporarily in Canada.

Eligible immediate and extended family members can apply if they are outside of Canada. To ensure that extended family members have close ties to the surviving family member, the family member who is in Canada will need to provide a statutory declaration identifying the extended family member who is applying for permanent residence. There is a limit of 2 extended family members per family unit. The victim of flight ET302 or PS752 must have been a Canadian citizen, permanent resident of Canada or foreign national who had been approved for permanent residence.

Applicants should check to see if they’re eligible and then carefully read all the instructions on how to apply before submitting an application. All standard fees, biometric requirements and admissibility requirements apply.

The public policy for families outside Canada will remain in effect for 1 year, from August 3, 2022, until August 2, 2023.

IRCC previously introduced a public policy to provide a pathway to permanent residence for family members of victims of ET302 and PS752 who were in Canada temporarily. This public policy was available from May 12, 2021, until May 11, 2022.