Fewer Canadians abroad seeking help as thousands flee Middle East: Anand

The federal government has seen calls for assistance from Canadians abroad drop by more than half since last week, Global Affairs Canada said Tuesday, as thousands of citizens and permanent residents flee the Middle East amid the war with Iran.

The department said it is also seeing fewer Canadians take the government’s offers of commercial airplane seats and ground transportation as flights gradually resume in certain parts of the region.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told reporters that over 7,000 Canadians, permanent residents and family members have arrived in Canada from the Middle East since the war began on Feb. 28.

Of those, 871 have received direct government assistance leaving the region to a safe third country since March 4.

“The point that I want to make clear today is that we will continue to provide options for Canadians who wish to leave the region,” Anand said.

“I want to underline that demand has begun to decrease.”

The war has led many Gulf nations to close their airspace and suspend flights as Iran fires missiles and drones at its neighbours, killing and wounding hundreds of civilians.

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Punishing airstrikes by the U.S. and Israel on Iran — which U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned will intensify Tuesday — have killed at least 1,230 people since the war began 11 days ago.

“At this time, we are not aware of any Canadians who have been injured or killed because of the hostilities,” Global Affairs Canada said in its latest update.

1:00 U.S. strikes on Iran come as a result of ‘failure of international order’: Anand

More than 110,700 Canadians in the Middle East have signed up to the government’s Canadians abroad registry as of Tuesday, though the actual number of Canadians in the region may be higher.

Anand said call volumes to the government’s 24/7 Emergency Watch and Response Centre have fallen from a peak of nearly 1,400 per day last week to just over 600 in the past 24 hours.

“Due to the gradual resumption of commercial flights in certain parts of the region, uptake has been decreasing by Canadians and permanent residents for seats on flights and ground transportation coordinated by the Government of Canada,” Global Affairs Canada’s update said.

The department noted Canadians in the region have been made aware of upcoming flights leaving Beirut in the coming days as well as “planned road movements” from Bahrain.

The government has chartered at least one flight from the United Arab Emirates to Istanbul, block-booked hundreds of commercial flight seats and assisted with busing Canadians to safe third countries in recent days.

Canadians wishing to leave Iran are still advised to cross the border into neighbouring countries such as Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan, where Canadian consular officials have been deployed to provide assistance with travel documents and arrange travel elsewhere.

Those Canadians who choose to travel through Iran to the border do so “at their own risk” and will not be helped on their journey, the department said.

The current list of Middle East countries classified as “avoid all travel” by the Canadian government includes Iran, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel and Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Canadians are advised to avoid non-essential travel if possible to Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia.