The Media Roundup provides links to recent and archived articles, in both English and French, on immigration and diversity appearing in the national and local news. Some international content is also included. Articles are updated weekly.
CBC News — Palestinian students accepted into Canadian universities remain ‘trapped’ in Gaza by visa delays
Biometrics — fingerprints and photographs required for Canadian visas — can only be collected outside Gaza, typically in Egypt or the West Bank. Before the war, Palestinians regularly travelled through the Rafah crossing to complete the process in Egypt. But that route has remained closed for months, despite ongoing rumours that it may reopen. According to PSSAR, more than 130 Palestinian students with acceptances into Canadian universities have been waiting up to 19 months to enter the country. About 30 of them are currently outside Gaza, while the remaining 100 or so are still inside the territory.
CBC News — Trump ends temporary protected status for Somalis living in U.S.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is ending temporary protected status for thousands of Somalis in the United States, press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on X on Tuesday, requiring them to leave by March 17. “Somali migrants with TPS will be required to leave the country by March 17,” Leavitt wrote on X, quoting a Fox News article that first broke the story. Trump in November said he was immediately terminating temporary deportation protections for Somalis living in Minnesota, accelerating the end of a program that began in 1991 under former Republican president George H.W. Bush.
CBC News — 2.1M temporary residents will have expired or expiring permits this year. But will they leave Canada?
According to the data shared by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), 1.49 million temporary residents had their permits expire last year. Another 1.4 million will expire this year, for a total of 2.9 million over two years. These do not include study permit or study permit extension holders. Of those 1.4 million expiring this year, 55 per cent are due to expire by June alone. IRCC says 395,000 spots were available for PR last year and another 380,000 this year. While some of those 2.9 million will get PR status, at least 2.1 million people will still be left with expired or expiring visas.
CBC News — ‘Despair, betrayal, disbelief’: Ukrainians who fled to Canada face uncertainty over immigration status
A Ukrainian family in Halifax says the federal government needs to provide answers to the thousands of Ukrainians who are now learning that it could be more than 50 years before their permanent residency applications are processed. Oleh Zadoretskyy first learned of the possibility of the decades-long wait after reading a CBC News report in October. He’s part of an online community of Ukrainians who arrived using the pathway created under the humanitarian and compassionate stream to help them flee the war. He said some of his friends thought the report was so outrageous, it had to be Russian propaganda.
CIC News — 2025 in review: Canada’s biggest changes for international students and PGWP eligibility
In 2025, Canada introduced several changes affecting international students and recent graduates—from new rules for changing schools to updated eligibility requirements for Post-Graduation Work Permits (PGWPs). These updates matter whether you’re planning to study in Canada, are already here on a study permit, or are aiming to work on a PGWP after graduation. In January 2025, new rules came into effect building on the above change, requiring international students to also include a new valid Provincial or Territorial Attestation Letter (PAL/TAL) before submitting an application for a study permit extension.
Radio-Canada — 8 personnes accusées à la suite d’une manifestation contre l’immigration à Toronto
La police de Toronto a annoncé dimanche qu’elle a porté 29 chefs d’accusation contre huit personnes au lendemain d’une manifestation contre l’immigration qui a aussi donné lieu à une contre-manifestation. Le Canada First Movement, qui réclame sur son site web « la fin de l’immigration de masse incontrôlée et non vérifiée », avait invité ses partisans à un rassemblement sur la place Nathan Phillips devant l’hôtel de ville. Un groupe formé de syndicats, d’organismes contre le racisme et la haine et de conseillers municipaux a lui aussi organisé un rassemblement au même endroit pour « dire non à la haine ».
