Those who were on the verge of immigrating to Canada before the pandemic struck say the government’s sluggish effort to renew their immigration documents is causing them profound financial and emotional stress.
Thousands of approved applicants have been trapped in limbo because border closures delayed their departures, resulting in expired authorizations. Many had already sold their homes, liquidated their assets and pulled their children from school and are now stuck in their home countries.
One of them was Harleen Kaur, who was set to lay down new roots with her husband and their two daughters.
“I had tears in my eyes when I had to open my suitcase, the kids’ suitcase, and take the clothes out. Unpacking had been a difficult thing and I don’t know when we’ll be asked to pack again and move to Canada,” she said.
Kaur, who has a PhD in biotechnology, said her family has been living like refugees in their native India since they sold their property and most of their furniture in anticipation of the move to Canada.
She said she is increasingly exasperated by the lack of communication from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Despite sending emails and filling out online forms, she said, she has been unable to nail down a timeframe for resolving her case.
‘Why are you still here?’
Kaur said her situation feels like a dead end.
“It has emotionally been very draining because we are using our savings that we had saved for Canada, and now we are just depleting it. Our careers have come to a stall and emotionally, it’s very, very exhausting,” she said.
“Socially, we have become a subject of either mockery or sympathy when people ask, ‘Why are you still here? You already sold your furniture, how are you managing?'”
IRCC officials recently told MPs on the immigration committee that the department is dealing with about 10,000 cases of expired confirmation of permanent residency (CoPR). The department started reaching out to affected families in September and has so far contacted about 6,000 of them. Fewer than a thousand have received the necessary authorization and have landed in Canada, officials said.
Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said the process of eliminating the backlog is well underway, but it’s a laborious process.
“Officers have been reaching out directly to determine client eligibility and willingness to travel and reopen files as necessary. These efforts often require more time and effort than usual, but we will soon have contacted everyone affected,” he said.
Flights grounded to curb COVID-19 spread
For Olha Lambina, who was born in Ukraine and is now living in Qatar, the wait has been excruciating.
She had booked a ticket, quit her job and was already packing to join her partner to build a new life in Canada. Her travel plans were abruptly cancelled when flights were grounded around the globe to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Lambina has been filling out online forms and submitting documents to prove she is ready to move here permanently, and that she has a quarantine plan for her arrival.
Olha Lambina is desperate to get the necessary federal authorization to immigrate to Canada. Her authorization expired due to pandemic-related travel restrictions. (Submitted by Olha Lambina)
But she has gotten only automated responses from IRCC advising her that her forms have been received — no personalized communications.
“It is an incredibly stressful situation to be in, in addition to the pandemic. There is no clarity when there will be any response from the IRCC team or what their further instructions will be,” she said.
“I’ve been looking forward to moving to Canada for so long and now it is heartbreaking not to be able to start my life there with my boyfriend and our future ahead of us.”
‘We should be treating them with more dignity’
Conservative immigration critic Raquel Dancho said Mendicino and IRCC officials have been “evasive” about their plans to help people stranded in their countries of origin — many of whom quit their jobs in preparation for the move.
“You need to recognize the urgency … for a lot of these people who presumably are going to come to Canada, contribute to our economy, become Canadians one day,” she said. “We should be treating them with more dignity in recognizing verbally and publicly the challenges that they’re going through and that hasn’t happened to date.”
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the process of having IRCC officials reach out to each applicant — even when they already had been approved before the pandemic — is inefficient and a waste of resources. She’s calling on the government to take a blanket approach and honour all of the applications approved for permanent resident status.
“They would be able to come automatically and they would not be jammed in the system with an expired certificate of permanent residence, and would save the staffing resources of having to go through this arduous process … which the officials themselves acknowledge is extremely time-consuming,” she said.
Aditya Madan said he has submitted more than 20 online forms and multiple emails to his local visa office in Mumbai, but has received so far only generic responses in return.
Aditya Madan has launched a social media campaign urging Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to help people whose immigration documents expired during COVID-19 travel restrictions. (Submitted by Aditya Madan)
His mounting frustration has prompted him to launch social media campaigns to push IRCC to act. His financial fears have been growing since he quit his job as a social media marketing professional — before his dreams of immigrating to Canada were dashed.
“Financial losses are still nothing when compared to the mental stress and anxiety that’s caused because of this delay and IRCC’s failure at handling the entire situation,” he said. “I’ve dealt with sleepless nights, extremely low days, and even thoughts about abandoning my immigration dream altogether.”
Madan said he also fears that the career disruption caused by the delays will raise questions for potential employers.
“The dilemma is whether to take up a new job in my home country and reset my life, or wait for just another month, and another one, and another,” he said.
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 58th home run, going deep for the fifth straight game to help the New York Yankees wrap up their second AL East title in three years with a 10-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night.
Giancarlo Stanton had four RBIs that included his 27th homer, Alex Verdugo also homered and Gerrit Cole outpitched Corbin Burnes in a possible postseason preview. Judge and Stanton homered in the same game for the 14th time this year, tying Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in 1961 for the most in Yankees history.
New York assured itself a first-round bye and home-field advantage in a best-of-five AL Division Series starting Oct. 5.
Baltimore, which clinched a postseason berth by winning Tuesday night’s opener of the three-game series, will be in a best-of-three Wild Card Series starting Tuesday.
Stanton homered in the second to put the Yankees ahead and hit a three-run double in a six-run sixth.
Judge hit a two-run homer in the seventh against Bryan Baker and has 144 RBIs, the most in the major leagues since Ryan Howard’s 146 in 2008. Judge matched his career best by homering in five consecutive games.
Making his last start before the playoffs, Cole (8-5) allowed two hits in 6 2/3 innings, struck out five and walked one, lowering his ERA to 3.41. He struck out Anthony Santander with a 98.1 mph fastball that ended the eighth after plate umpire David Rackley called a ball on the previous pitch, a knuckle-curve that appeared to be just above the strike zone. Cole glared as the umpire as the pitcher walked back to the dugout.
Cole was given a standing ovation when he walked to the dugout with two outs in the seventh and tipped his cap to the crowd of 42,022.
Burnes (15-9) allowed two hits in five innings, one walk and nine strikeouts — including eight on cutters. Burnes came out after 69 pitches and is likely to start the Orioles’ postseason opener on Tuesday. He had a 1.20 ERA in five September starts.
Stanton lofted a slider at the bottom of the strike zone into the left-field seats after missing badly at a slider on the prior pitch.
Austin Wells, in a 4-for-42 slide, forced in a run when he walked with the bases loaded against Cionel Pérez. Stanton drove the next pitch on one hop to the wall in right-center for a 5-1 lead. Stanton has 72 RBIs after hitting 6 for 18 with two doubles, two homers and eight RBIs in his last five games.
Anthony Rizzo added a two-run single against Baker.
Emmanuel Rivera hit a ninth-inning sacrifice fly for the Orioles.
UP NEXT
Orioles: LHP Cade Povich (2-9, 5.59) starts a series opener at Minnesota on Friday, when LHP Pablo López (15-9, 4.11) will be on the mound for the Twins.
Yankees: LHP Carlos Rodón (16-9, 3.98), 7-2 with a 2.87 ERA since the All-Star break. starts Friday’s series opener against Pirates RHP Jared Jones (6-8, 4.14).
OTTAWA – Noah Ostlund scored the overtime winner for the Buffalo Sabres in a 3-2 pre-season win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
Buffalo’s lineup had a combined total of just over 100 NHL games of experience as most of its regular roster is in Munich, Germany for the upcoming Global Series Challenge.
Felix Sandstrom made 14 saves for the Sabres (4-0-0). Josh Dunne and Isak Rosen had the Buffalo goals.
Adam Gaudette and Noah Gregor scored for Ottawa. Linus Ullmark made his first start in a Senators (3-1-0) uniform and didn’t disappoint, stopping 28 of 29 shots through 30 minutes of play.
Dustin Tokarski made 10 saves over a period and a half.
Ottawa opened the scoring at 7:55 after Carter Yakemchuk made a great defensive play to create a turnover. Gregor was then sent down the wing and he beat Sandstrom on the glove side.
Buffalo tied the game at the 10-minute mark. Vsevolod Komarov made a cross-crease pass to Dunne who stepped into the faceoff circle and beat Ullmark.
Buffalo had a 24-5 edge in shots after the first period.
Gaudette gave Ottawa the lead midway through the third with a power-play goal that was set up by Yakemchuk. Rosen tied it with 40.7 seconds remaining.
The Senators were expected to make a number of cuts after the game to reduce the size of their roster.
NOTES: The Sabres were given a special exemption from the league before the game. Teams usually have to dress a minimum of eight NHL veterans, but Buffalo didn’t have any in its lineup.
UP NEXT: The Senators will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday in Sudbury, while the Sabres will head to Columbus on Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs got a scare in a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night when star forward William Nylander left the game midway through the first period after taking a knock to the head.
He was held out for the rest of the game for what the team called “precautionary reasons.” Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said Nylander avoided serious injury and would be OK.
“Willy will be fine,” said Berube. “Nothing to worry about.”
Nylander was the latest Maple Leafs star to suffer an injury scare, as Auston Matthews departed practice this week with what Berube deemed an upper-body ailment. Matthews did not play on Thursday.
John Tavares and Nick Robertson scored for Toronto in the Maple Leafs’ first win of the pre-season. Christian Dvorak tallied for Montreal.
The Maple Leafs outshot the Canadiens 33-17.
Nylander was tripped up in the neutral zone and hit in the head by a passing Montreal player as he fell. The 27-year-old went straight to the dressing room after the play.
Tavares opened the scoring midway at 10:12 of the first period by tipping home a deft touch-pass from Mitch Marner. It was the fourth point for Tavares in two games.
“There were better sides to our game,” Tavares said. “The way we played, all three zones, we were a little more connected. The pace of our game was better. Moving the puck better.
“I liked the way that we were getting in on the forecheck.”
Dvorak pulled Montreal even at 5:39 of the second period after taking advantage of a slick feed from Alexandre Barre-Boulet at the Toronto blue line.
Dvorak held off Maple Leafs defender Morgan Rielly and tucked the puck between goalie Anthony Stolarz’s legs.
Robertson had two breakaways later in the period but both were turned aside by Montreal netminder Jakub Dobes.
Robertson eventually capitalized with the winner at 18:04. He stripped the puck from Canadiens defender Adam Engstrom, drawing a penalty in the process, and beat Dobes between the legs.
“Heck of a play,” said Maple Leafs forward Steven Lorenz. “That’s just hard work, not giving up on a play. And it shows a maturity for a young guy like him. Coming on the backcheck and stripping the guy, going in and on the first three strides getting some separation and getting a great shot on the guy’s five hole.
“I get tired just watching him. He’s a good little player.”
Matt Murray took over for Stolarz in the third period for his first game action since suffering a hip injury on April 4, 2023. He stopped all seven shots he faced.
“He’s had a good summer, healthy summer,” Berube said of Murray. “He was able to train and do the things he needs to do. You know, this guy has won a couple (Stanley) Cups. He knows how to win. He’s a good goalie.
“So, I think it’s just kind of progressed from the summertime through to camp here now. He looked solid. He’s a big guy, takes up a lot of net.”
Stolarz had nine saves and Dobes made 32 stops.
COMING UP
The Maple Leafs and Canadiens will face each other again on Saturday in Montreal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
