Ottawa fast tracking travel visas for AIDS conference amid sharp criticism

The federal government says it is now prioritizing temporary travel visas for people seeking to attend the International AIDS Conference in Montreal at the end of July.

The move comes as the head of the African Alliance health rights organization slams Canada for bidding to host the conference and spending millions of dollars on it without making sure all attendees would be given a visa to attend.

Founder Tian Johnson says it is “truly vile” that thousands of people from the Global South are still waiting to find out if they’ll get a visa, leaving the conference to be only “white, privileged and academic.”

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The African Alliance is one of 250 Canadian and international humanitarian groups that signed a letter to Immigration Minister Sean Fraser in June asking him to intervene.

The letter warns there is a real risk the voices of people living in countries most affected by AIDS will be missing from the conversation.

Aidan Strickland, a spokesman for Fraser says visa offices have now been sent lists of conference invitees and are being told to prioritize their temporary travel visa applications.

CityNews reached out to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which responded, “Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been working closely with the organizers of the 2022, 24th Annual International AIDS conference to ensure immigration and entry requirements are understood so processing and admission for participants can go smoothly. The Department provided specific details on the application process and reinforced the importance that all attendees apply as early as possible for their temporary resident visas (i.e. visitor visas) or Electronic Travel Authorizations (eTAs).”

“IRCC is prioritizing the processing of temporary resident visa (TRV) applications for delegates attending the 24th Annual International AIDS Conference. IRCC has taken every measure available to expedite the applications as quickly as possible and facilitate travel for this event. To maximize the assistance that the Department can offer after IRCC received the lists of invited attendees from event organizers, we shared the information with our visa offices abroad where the applications are being prioritized for processing.”

The IRCC added wait times are currently longer than normal, and thousands of requests from all over the world are being processed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 12, 2022.