E-7435: Petition to the House of Commons in Parliament assembled — Canadian Petition Tracker
Canonical URL: https://petitiontracker.ca/petition/e-7435
Track petition E-7435 — "Petition to the House of Commons in Parliament assembled" sponsored by Salma Zahid. 19 signatures and counting. See signature growth trends and provincial breakdown on PetitionTracker.ca.
Petition Text
Petition to the House of Commons in Parliament assembled
Whereas:
• African refugees remain among the most affected by systemic inequities in immigration processing and prolonged displacement crises in our current world. Despite the department’s renaming from CIC to IRCC in 2015 to emphasize refugee protection, evidence of discriminatory practices and systemic backlogs affecting African refugee applicants remains well documented;
• Reports from CIMM (2022), the Auditor General (2023), and the CCR (2025) confirm that African refugee applications take the longest processing times and largest backlogs in the system, indicating a systemic disadvantage based on race and origin. Canada’s 2023 commitment to prioritize those affected by the Sudan conflict is undermined by thousands of privately sponsored refugees (PSRs) who languish in limbo after several years;
• A PSR backlog of 86,000 against an annual intake of 16,000 adds nearly 6 years of delays. African refugees already face the longest waits and largest backlogs, exposing them to irreparable harm and risk of refoulement; and
• Efforts to stabilize immigration levels should not undermine the PSR program, a proven community-led model with strong integration outcomes.
We, the undersigned, Citizens and Residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to consider action with respect to lengthy processing delays for overseas refugees in Africa by:
1. Launching a one-time initiative to resolve 30,000 privately sponsored refugee cases from the existing African backlog within one year, prioritizing those displaced by the Sudan conflict, with additional immigration spaces that do not reduce allocations for other refugee populations; and
2. Conducting a data-driven study to establish clear policy commitments, enforceable service standards, equitable resourcing, and rapid emergency for refugees in Africa, including timely TRPs for those facing immediate danger.