“We are waiting to rebuild Gaza as scholars”: Canadian government stalls visas for students in Gaza admitted to Ontario universities

(Raneen (left) and Khaled (right) on a Zoom call from a tent in Deir al-Balah, Gaza. Both are accepted to Western University for postgraduate studies: Raneen for a PhD in nursing, and Khaled for a medical research fellowship in cardiology.)

Audio excerpts of meeting with Nour, Khaled, and Raneen:

“I am Nour from Gaza. I have got a PhD acceptance in the Civil Engineering department at Toronto University since May 2024. I want to complete my PhD in order to get back to Gaza and rebuild it after the destruction happened in the war,” says Nour over a WhatsApp audio call from Gaza City on Wednesday, December 3rd. “Here, the destruction is very huge, the buildings are destructed, infrastructure is destructed, streets destructed, so we dream about this - a good education to rebuild our infrastructure, our streets, our buildings, and so on.”

Nour describes herself and her family as “very dreamy people.” She has four school-aged children, two daughters and two sons, who dream of going to Canada to live normal lives of peace, play, and good education. Her husband applied for a Canadian work permit to gain experience abroad and return to rebuild Gaza. Nour dreams of becoming a university professor and rebuilding academia in Gaza.

“I have a motivation to continue my education. I dream of rebuilding the country again. I also dream of being a university professor, so I am working to get the PhD to work again in university and rebuild the universities that have been destroyed here in Gaza.” 

The family has applied for visas since June 2024, but none were granted. The Canadian government is requiring Palestinians in Gaza to provide biometric information - fingerprints and photographs - for their visa applications. This is unattainable: there are no biometric collection sites in Gaza, where 83% of all structures have been destroyed, and Palestinians are barred from leaving to seek them elsewhere. 

“We want the government to help us get out of Gaza. They are saying that the biometrics is an obstacle in our way to getting to Canada. We can, of course, find a solution for the biometrics issue. Maybe we can find a place in Gaza to make the biometrics, maybe we can delay the biometrics so we can get our study permits and get out and go to Canada at the right time.”

Nour was accepted to begin her PhD in September 2024. She had to defer her start to January 2025, then to September 2025, and finally to January 2026, because her visa remained unprocessed. She urges IRCC to expedite her family’s permits before her PhD acceptance expires. 

With a background in electronics engineering - earning her bachelor's degree in Gaza and then a master’s - she strives to join an air quality group at the University of Toronto to study air pollution and enhance air quality in Canada. 

She applied for her PhD with support from the Palestinian Students and Scholars at Risk Network (PSSAR), which she learned about from a WhatsApp group. PSSAR is a volunteer initiative that matches Palestinian students with graduate school programs in Canada, with application forms for Palestinian students seeking postgraduate research opportunities and for Canadian researchers interested in supervising Palestinian students. Nour was connected with a University of Toronto professor. She applied for a PhD in the Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering and was accepted with a full scholarship. 

“When my life was normal, I was working, I was going to work everyday…I was teaching in Gaza,” says Nour. “After 2023, our lives have dramatically changed. Everything is changed. We are displaced from our house, we were displaced more than ten times, maybe, I don’t remember how many. We lost our house, all our things, so we started from zero. Now, we are looking forward.” 

Nour explains that the small logistics of daily life are huge issues in Gaza. Upon waking, her family wonders how to secure water to drink, items from the market, internet connection, and transportation. There is no electricity in their homes; they seek places to charge their laptops and phones. They manage emails from IRCC and universities with weak internet. 

Nour imagines a rebuilt Gaza as a “modern city” with new buildings, schools, wide streets, universities with technological labs, and hospitals with advanced medical equipment. She imagines Gaza clean - without rubble, without air pollution, and feeling the fresh air. She urges everyone in the world to talk about Gaza. 

“Talk about what’s happening in Gaza, about the Palestinian issue, and how Palestinians suffer in Gaza, the West Bank, and other places around the world. All Palestinians are suffering from what they are facing. Especially in Gaza, everything is destroyed. Gaza needs to be rebuilt, and people in the world mustn't stop talking about this. All the people in the world must help in rebuilding Gaza, and opening borders around Gaza so we can go out of Gaza and get medicine, get education. We are now in a prison, and we need to go out of this prison to live out our life and get back to rebuilding Gaza.” 

***

Khaled and Raneen, a couple from Gaza, have both been accepted to postgraduate studies at Western University.

“My name is Khaled, I’m a physician from Gaza. I graduated from the faculty of medicine with an excellent GPA, securing the top position in my class. After graduation, I worked as a teaching and research assistant at the faculty of medicine for two years. Now, I work as a physician to help the injured people during the war,” says Khaled over a Zoom video call on Wednesday, December 3rd, from a tent in Deir al-Balah, Gaza. “Before October 7th, 2023, my life was peaceful and full of joy. I lived in our home with my wife and our little daughter, enjoying stability, security, and hope for the future. But everything changed after that day. Since then, our lives have been turned upside down. We’ve been forcibly displaced multiple times and have been living in a tent for months, with little access to food, clean water, or basic necessities. As a doctor, I’ve always been passionate about advancing my medical knowledge. When all universities in Gaza were destroyed, I knew I had to find a way to continue my education.”

Khaled learned about PSSAR from a family member in Canada. With PSSAR’s support, he applied for a research fellowship at Western University’s cardiology department. All personal documents required for the application were lost when Khaled’s home was destroyed; he called doctors, professors, and ministries over five months of genocide to secure them. The acceptance from Western University was a “dream come true.” He had been interested in cardiology since the early years of medical school, fascinated by the importance of treating heart-related diseases in underserved communities like his. He dreams of advancing cardiovascular medicine and improving healthcare systems globally to further research, collaboration, and learning. 

“I have a passion for knowledge. I need to complete my studies. This is my dream. I want to be a specialist - to be a cardiothoracic surgeon specialist,” says Khaled. “Of course, as you know, here in Gaza, not just the universities but all the hospitals were destroyed. Where we got our education in the hospitals - our professors, our specialists, our consultants - simply, they are dead now. A lot of them. And many of them now are outside of Gaza. So, no chance to complete my studies here, no chance to start my residency, no chance to be a specialist. I want to complete my studies. This is my goal - to get back to the world.”

Khaled’s wife, Raneen, was accepted to Western University for a PhD in Nursing. 

“Hi, I am Raneen,” she introduces herself on the same Zoom call. “I am originally from Gaza, where I completed both my bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in maternal and child health, with an excellent GPA and securing the top position of my class in both the programs. I also worked as a teaching assistant for over three years at the same university I graduated from. Before the 7th of October, my life in Gaza was very beautiful. I lived peacefully with my family. But after the 7th of October, everything changed. My life has completely changed. I have been forced to be displaced more than thirteen times. I’m facing a lot of difficulties. Tragically, I lost eleven of my close family members, including my brother, my uncle, my cousins, and my grandfather. These are losses that shattered my heart.”

Raneen is passionate about supporting vulnerable communities, especially women and children, through research and clinical care. She hopes to rebuild Gaza’s healthcare system and any other places in the world battered by crises. She considers Canada one of the best environments for her to grow as a researcher, admiring the kindness and openness of the people, its cultural and linguistic diversity, and its advanced academic research sites. 

“All I ask is for the chance to continue my education in a safe area. My only goal is to learn, grow, and use my knowledge to give back to serve as a healthcare provider,” says Raneen. “I want the stakeholders to hear my voice and the voice of many students here in Gaza who are trapped and can’t continue their education. There is no chance to continue higher education here in Gaza because all universities were totally destroyed.”

The couple are graduates of the Islamic University of Gaza, founded in 1978 and Gaza’s oldest degree-awarding institution, and Al-Quds Open University, established in 1991 as the first open learning institute in the Palestinian Territories. Palestine is recognized as having one of the highest literacy rates in the world, with a rate of 97.7% recorded in 2021. The Islamic University of Gaza and Al-Quds Open University were destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in 2023. 

The couple submitted student visa applications on April 5, 2025, along with a visitor visa for their two year old daughter. They have been waiting for visa approvals since. They are unable to leave Gaza or complete the required biometrics: the borders remain closed, and the Canadian government does not intervene. They have contacted IRCC, the Canadian Embassy in Amman, the Palestinian Embassies in Canada and Cairo, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and humanitarian organizations such as the Red Cross for help. All communications were unsuccessful, revolving around the inability to provide biometric information. 

“We do not ask for a favour,” says Khaled. “We don’t want our visas to be treated with exceptions or bias. No. We need a fair treatment, a fair processing of our visas, to give us our opportunities to have our biometrics done, and for the process to take its normal processing time. We do not ask for a favour. Education is a right - it is not a privilege.”

The crowded tent where Khaled and Raneen live, along with Khaled’s uncle and cousins, has no electricity or internet access. They take the Zoom call from a “café” - a tent serving as a hub for phone chargers, good internet connections, and better electricity. There is no clean water or nutritious food to be found, only empty-calorie snacks. Their home city lies in the “yellow area”, a military boundary partitioning the Gaza Strip. 

“We live our life like the majority of our people here,” says Khaled. “We are waiting, hopefully and with great effort, to live a better future, to contribute meaningfully to the growing and advancement of this society here in Gaza, to rebuild the healthcare system as a doctor, to rebuild Gaza’s education system as academics and scholars, after getting the best education ever. This is our dream.”

Khaled has always encouraged Raneen to complete her studies, envisioning her as a professor in her field. The couple met fifteen years ago when they were in high school. 

“I loved her when I was in secondary school. I met her, I loved her, and I married her after completing my medical school because it was my first dream to complete my studies, to be a doctor, and she told me “you have to be a doctor to marry me”,” says Khaled. “And also, I encouraged her, every time, to complete her studies. I asked her to start her master’s degree, and she completed her master’s degree while we were married, after having a baby, and now every day I ask her to complete her studies. I asked her to apply for the PhD, I want to see her much better. I’m proud of her - really, I’m proud of her - and I want to see her like a professor in her field.”

Eleven of Raneen’s family members were killed in a single airstrike. It was at about one a.m. on what Khaled called “a relatively peaceful night.” The couple was on the ground floor with some of Khaled and Raneen’s family, and on the first floor were Raneen’s cousins, grandfather, and uncle’s family. 

“The house, all of a sudden, was totally destroyed. The first floor vanished,” says Khaled. “Her brother, also, was killed. By a miracle, we survived. We rushed in the street. The house - destroyed. And they were burned alive, we saw this, and a lot of them were injured. But we couldn’t help because we also were injured. We left that house and we left them, injured and killed.”

After about two weeks, Khaled and Raneen returned to their bombed house and found their martyred family unburied.

“None of them were buried with dignity. They were just left to the dogs. This is real. They are our family. Some of them, at this moment, have no grave to be buried in. This is shocking. In 2025, there are still rockets that come to people when they are sleeping and burn them alive. They are innocent people,” says Khaled. “How could a person like Raneen, how could she live peacefully with her memories in her head, just thinking about her brother, her uncle, her cousins, her grandfather?” 

Since October 2023, it is estimated that over 680,000 Palestinians have been killed, as stated by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese.  

Khaled and Raneen were forcibly displaced over ten times. After their house in the north of Gaza was bombed, they walked about two kilometers to central Gaza. After a few days, Israeli tanks came and displaced them again. There are no safe places in Gaza: they were internally displaced in Rafah, in central Gaza, in Gaza city, and in north Gaza. At times, when destruction orders were made, Raneen asked that they remain in their tent - to die peacefully, to not suffer more uprooting. The couple are two of the over 1.9 million people - 90% of Gaza’s population - who have been displaced since 2023. 

 “The only thing that motivated us was our child, our little daughter,” says Khaled. “She’s innocent, she doesn’t have to be killed, to be burned alive. Thanks to Allah, we are alive here.”

Though a ceasefire was agreed in October 2025, Palestinians are still being killed. Khaled says they are cursed at, yelled at, and threatened by overhead drones. 

“It’s not a ceasefire, actually, because, as you know, a lot of rockets and airplanes (are here) all the time, with drones all over our heads.” 

Khaled’s work in emergency rooms during the genocide is filled with horror. Only 19 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially operational, with at least 94% damaged or completely destroyed. He describes mutilated children who dreamed of life and of peace. 

He saw a child with four limbs amputated. What life will she lead, limbless? He saw a child with eyes hanging severed from his head. Why should a child, full of dreams, live his whole life blind? He saw a headless child his daughter’s age. 

“We don’t like blood, we don’t like killing, we are not terrorists, I swear, we are not terrorists. We are people with large hearts, we want to live, as all people in the world do, to live peacefully.”

Memories of before the genocide are lost. Wedding albums, video recordings, CDs, and laptops full of life stories and childhood photos were destroyed with their house. Khaled had a decade of memories of his father, who he met later in life, in photos on his laptop. Now, he sees his father in his mind’s eye.

“I was grown up as an orphan, but I had a chance to meet my father for ten years so I had a lot of pictures with him. They are vanished. I just have the memories in my mind about my father’s shape, my father’s behaviour, my father’s memories,” says Khaled. “We lost everything - but hope, and faith.” 

Khaled and Raneen loved life in Gaza more than anything. The people are kind and tightly connected to each other, a community so loving that Khaled chose to remain for his studies despite some offers to complete them abroad. He lived with his elderly mother and did everything he could to make her happy. The youngest of seven brothers, he loves his family more than anything in the world.  

“It was great, Gaza, we loved Gaza, more than anything ever. I loved the community. We are here, we are tightly connected socially to each other. I have seven brothers and one sister, I love them more than anything in the world. They are my life, actually. I am the youngest of my brothers, so my mother loved me more than anything ever. It is a dream for her to be here, and to see me growing. It was my dream, and my father’s dream, to be a doctor. I did everything to make her happy, to make this world much better. I did all of this. And I married my wife. I love her. I lived a peaceful life. It was really good…A normal life is a dream - this is the heart of reality.” 

Raneen hopes to see Gaza bustling with life again, the people healed with peace in their eyes. 

“I want Gaza back as I knew it, too. Gaza was so beautiful and the people here in Gaza - so kind. I want a peace in their eyes, like they were before the war. I hope to see the doors of schools be opened, the healthcare system to be improved like it was before the 7th of October. I hope to see all their students at their seats in the universities at the schools. I want to see the injured people recovered and have their chance to get their medical care. I want a normal life in Gaza,” says Raneen. “We need our chance. Just give us a chance to continue our studies, our research, our education. We don’t need exceptions to process our applications. We need a fair process and real action.”

***

PSSAR held press conferences on Parliament Hill on November 25 and December 9 to reject IRCC’s barring of over 130 Palestinian students accepted to Canadian universities. 

On November 25th, PSSAR was joined by NDP MP Heather McPherson, Liberal MP Salma Zahid, and representatives from Oxfam and the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council.

In a press release, PSSAR states that they were officially informed that biometric delays will not be considered for Palestinian applicants. Aaron Shafer, a Trent University professor of forensic science and PSSAR representative, wrote letters with other faculty requesting a meeting with IRCC Minister Lena Diab. In October 2025, they were offered a meeting, but were told shortly beforehand that Diab would not attend. Instead, they were met by the IRCC’s director general. He stayed for a mere 12 minutes.

“He delivered one message: no exemptions for Gaza. There was no discussion, no rationale, no emotion,” says Shafer. “Despite Canada’s history of supporting students and families in conflict zones facing humanitarian crises, there is to be no such exceptions for Palestine. No exceptions for a man-made famine, no exceptions for genocide. But let me be clear: these students have never asked for exceptions or special treatment. All they’ve asked for is fair and due process.”

For Ukrainians affected by Russia’s 2022 invasion, IRCC created a unique humanitarian program that included the decision to exempt biometric requirements. For Afghan refugees, IRCC agreed to facilitate their movement to a third country for biometric appointments. Palestinian students who have managed to leave Gaza have provided their biometric information; still, IRCC is delaying their visas. Other countries - such as France, Ireland, and the UK - have taken action to bring Palestinian students in Gaza to their universities of acceptance. 

Under Section 25.2 of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, Diab has the power to grant exemptions from any criteria of the Act including biometric information.

“Minister Diab has the ability to do this urgently, and I do not understand, given the horrific circumstances in Gaza, why she will not do so. This is not just about processing times at IRCC, this is about political cowardice. The Liberals are not willing to do the political advocacy to get these students out of Gaza in the same way that other countries around the world have done,” says NDP MP Heather McPherson. “There is no reason, no understanding for why this is not a priority of the federal government…Canadian universities across the country are losing exceptional academic students, academic talent, because the government refuses to bring students here. Prior to the genocide, the population in Gaza was one of the most educated in world. Many people in Gaza hold multiple degrees. For Palestinians, higher education has always been a core part of their culture.”

McPherson adds that her office has been contacted by many professors at the University of Alberta - at which over 40 Palestinian students in Gaza have been accepted - who want their university enriched by the talent and promise of Palestinian students. Community members have shared with her that they would welcome Palestinian students warmly, offering homes and support. 

MP Salma Zahid says that she is advocating as much as she can, urging the government to find solutions. 

Oxfam representative Damiel Komesch says that the Canadian government must take action for these students especially now that Canada has recognized the State of Palestine. Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council representative Nimao Ali urges Canadians to meet with their local politicians about the injustice. 

“These students earned their degrees and their universities are waiting to receive them,” says Ali. “But they are stuck in a cruel loop: you cannot leave Gaza because you don't have the biometrics to travel, and you cannot get biometrics because you cannot leave Gaza. This is unacceptable.” 

On December 9th, representatives from PSSAR, Independent Jewish Voices, Justice For All Canada, and Faculty for Palestine denounced Diab’s recent statements, uttered at a December 4th Citizenship and Immigration Committee Meeting, that “applying to a Canadian school does not guarantee entry to Canada, and all prospective international students must meet all requirements before a study permit is approved.” The humanitarian groups were joined by Liberal MP Iqra Khalid.

“This response is unacceptable. Justice For All Canada has identified and documented the deliberate imposition of exceptional barriers on these students,” says Taha Ghayyur, representative for Justice for All Canada. “This is a deliberate policy decision. It keeps Palestinian students in danger instead of within the Canadian lecture halls that have already accepted them, where they belong.”

Two Palestinian students in Gaza, twin sisters Dahlia and Sally, were meant to begin their PhDs in Engineering at the University of Waterloo. They were killed in an Israeli airstrike before their student visas were issued. 

“This is a travesty of human life that genocide scholars recognize as an educide. Yet IRCC continues to withhold available measures such as evacuations, expedited processes, biometric waivers, and more.”

Ghayyur says that Justice for All Canada will soon publish a research report documenting Canada’s refusal to adapt existing policy frameworks for students in Gaza. 

Nahla Abdo, Emeritus professor in anthropology and sociology at Carleton University and member of Faculty for Palestine, recognizes the richness that students in Gaza will bring to academia. She says it is urgent that Canada support them. 

“Despite the horrific conditions, we have over 130 students that have defied all odds, applied to competitive graduate research-based programs, conducted interviews, and earned their place in our universities,” says Abdo. “As academics, my colleagues and I will be largely strengthened by students with diverse backgrounds who bring new innovative perspectives. Canada should support such initiatives without delay.” 

Nir Hagigi, member of Independent Jewish Voices and student of Global Studies at Carleton University, speaks to how students in Gaza are enduring the human rights violations taught in his program. His classes emphasize discussion on international law, state violence, displacement, border regimes, and genocide prevention. 

“For us, human rights is discussed in classrooms; for them, human rights determine whether they live or die,” says Hagigi. “These are students just like me and my classmates. They finished their degrees under bombardment, they wrote their applications while displaced, they sat through interviews while their families were being starved, wounded, and killed. Against all possible odds, they did everything we tell students to do: they worked, they persevered, they succeeded…Even after their universities have been erased from this earth, Palestinian students are still being told to meet impossible requirements. That is not neutrality, that is cruelty.” 

Nadia Abu Zahra, PSSAR representative and professor of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa, says that over 12,000 Canadians have sent letters to Diab about the plight of students in Gaza and received no response. Constituents from over 30 ridings have met with their MPs. Liberal MP Iqra Khalid says that she is conversing with IRCC and advocates in hopes of finding a solution. 

PSSAR has begun a campaign open for signing addressed to Diab, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Minister of Public Safety of Canada Gary Anandasangaree, and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand. It urges Palestinian visa applications to be expedited, granted biometric exemptions, and the government to facilitate safe passage for Palestinian students out of Gaza. ♦

Nour, Khaled, Raneen, and a PSSAR member reviewed content in this article prior to publication to ensure safe and respectful coverage. Student last names have been excluded from this article for their safety.