Canadian travel alert for Haiti raised as violent protests rage on

Global Affairs raised its travel warning for Haiti Friday morning, telling all Canadians to avoid all travel due to civil unrest in the country.

Violent protests have been taking place in Port-au-Prince since Feb. 7, and some Canadians are even trapped in the chaos.

“The security situation could further deteriorate quickly,” Global Affairs said in a statement. “You should consider leaving by commercial means while they are available.”

“Global Affairs Canada is also working with tour operators to provide consular advice to them as they work to ensure that their clients are able to leave Haiti safely. We encourage Canadians who are in Haiti as part of a package vacation to stay in touch with their tour operators as the situation develops.”

WATCH: Justin Trudeau ‘deeply concerned’ by violent protests in Haiti

0:48 Justin Trudeau ‘deeply concerned’ by violent protests in Haiti

A group of tourists from Quebec are stuck in a Haiti hotel, unable to make it to the Port-au-Prince airport because of violent street protests.

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Air Transat, which sold package tours to the hotel, said its flights between Montreal and Haiti are continuing, but it has been unable to provide safe ground transport from the resort to the airport.

WATCH: Protests in Haiti turn deadly

0:56 Protests in Haiti turn deadly

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa Friday the government is deeply concerned about what’s going on in Haiti.

“Many Canadians have family members and friends in Haiti that they are of course worried about, and our hearts go out to them,” Trudeau said.

On Tuesday Global Affairs updated its travel advisory to warn against all non-essential travel to the Caribbean country.

Canada’s embassy in Haiti also closed Wednesday.

Protests demanding the resignation of President Jovenel Moise have claimed several lives over the past week.

Many Haitians are angry about skyrocketing inflation and the government’s failure to prosecute embezzlement from a multi-billion Venezuelan program that sent discounted oil to the country.

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— With files from the Associated Press