Parliamentary Committee Notes: IRCC Special Immigration Programs

Extended Family Public Policy (EFPP) and Language and Cultural Advisor (LCA) Public Policy

Key messages

Over half of Canada's Afghan Resettlement Initiative was dedicated to those who closely assisted Canada and their family members. This included programs for the extended family of former interpreters, and language and cultural advisors who served Canada during our time in Afghanistan.

The public policy for the extended family members of the approximately 800 former interpreters who were resettled in Canada under public policies in 2009 and 2012 was designed to acknowledge the challenges faced by the extended families of former Afghan interpreters who remained in Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul.

The Government of Canada also implemented a temporary public policy to facilitate the resettlement of extended family members of former Language and Cultural Advisors (LCAs) who were Canadian citizens or permanent residents and were employed by the Department of National Defence in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021.

Intake under these public policies is now closed.

Supplementary messages

As of October 1, 2024, over 4,000 Afghan nationals have arrived in Canada under the EFPP and LCA public policies.

If pressed on EFPP intake:

Since the start of this program, IRCC has met regularly with former Afghan interpreters in Canada. We expect that most, if not all, eligible Afghans have already applied under EFPP.

We have received enough applications to reach the intake cap in order to welcome 5,000 people under this public policy.

While we are no longer accepting new applications under the EFPP stream, we continue to process on a priority basis, applications that were accepted before the intake cap was reached on March 25, 2024.

Program intake caps and/or expiry dates are a standard practice in public policies to ensure that we are able to process applications received, and welcome successful applicants to Canada.

Each program has eligibility requirements, and individuals must meet those requirements to be eligible.

Afghans may also be eligible for regular immigration programs, including economic, family reunification and refugee resettlement programs.

If pressed on any litigation including submissions to the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC):

I am unable to comment on any matters currently before the CHRC or the courts.

Information relating to the conciliation and settlement negotiations are confidential. As such, it would be inappropriate to comment.

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