- Thousands of Turkish earthquake survivors face expiring permits in 2026 with no categorical extensions.
- IRCC maintains that the special measures were temporary humanitarian support rather than permanent pathways.
- Approximately 9,000 Turkish citizens are expected to leave Canada as their legal status ends soon.
(CANADA) — Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada ended its special measures for Turkish earthquake survivors to file new applications in early January 2024, and thousands of people in Canada now face the end of the time-limited permits that kept them working, studying and living here.
As of March 16, 2026, extended documents granted under the 2023 response are expiring, with no categorical extension and no dedicated permanent residency route tied to the measures, information from the TS2023 Initiative and immigration notices show.
The group, which includes Turkish earthquake survivors who came from the 11 provinces in southern Türkiye, is now weighing standard immigration pathways or departure as employers, schools and families confront timelines set in motion by a program designed as short-term humanitarian facilitation.
IRCC framed the measures as temporary. Canadian officials repeatedly described them as “short-term humanitarian support rather than a permanent immigration pathway.”
Canada introduced the special measures after the February 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, offering support that included free status extensions and open work permits, the government said. The measures also covered study permits and visitor records, allowing people already in Canada or arriving under the program to maintain lawful status while they stabilized their lives.
A central feature was that the program had a defined end for new filings. IRCC set a cutoff and warned that late submissions would not receive the special handling provided under the earthquake measures.
“If you submit an application on or after January 4, 2024, you can no longer benefit from the special measures,” IRCC said on its program page.
That closure now matters because the permissions that flowed from the 2023 policy were time-limited. For many, 2026 marks the point when the runway runs out and families must either secure another legal pathway or leave.
The operational line is simple: applications that fell within the special measures received the special handling and related facilitation, while filings after the cutoff moved into ordinary processing and requirements. Previously issued documents remain valid until they expire, but the end of the measures means expiries now trigger the usual expectation that people qualify under standard streams or depart.
The TS2023 Initiative, which represents survivors in Canada, said expiring permits are pushing thousands toward return. Approximately 9,000 Turkish citizens are expected to leave Canada in the coming weeks as their permits expire, it said.
An estimated 10,000 have already returned voluntarily since the program’s peak, the same material said, suggesting the pressure has been building for months as individual permits reached their end dates.
Roughly 20,000 Turkish nationals entered Canada under the special measures, figures in the same set of reports show. That total participation has concentrated the impact in communities where newcomers found jobs, enrolled in schools, and relied on Canadian documentation to keep leases, pay tuition, and remain employed.
Many people used open work permits, which allowed employers to hire without being tied to a single job, while others held study permits or visitor records. As those documents expire, people who want to stay must pivot to standard immigration streams, including Express Entry and Provincial Nominee Programs, or depart.
The shift has also created an administrative crunch, as households that arrived under an emergency framework now have to meet the thresholds and documentation demands of ordinary programs. The measures were never presented as a permanent pathway, but the timing of expirations has renewed calls for a policy response.
Outside Canada, the United States responded to the earthquakes with humanitarian assistance but did not launch a dedicated earthquake visa program comparable to Canada’s special measures. The United States provided over $185 million in humanitarian aid to the region, information tied to the U.S. response shows.
Then-Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, speaking on February 6, 2023, said: “Our hearts go out to the people of Türkiye and Syria. the United States is committed to providing life-saving assistance and stands ready to support our allies.”
U.S. immigration policy signals in 2026 have emphasized screening posture and the handling of long-running temporary protections, rather than a disaster-specific entry program for Turkish nationals. Under Policy Memorandum PM-602-0194, USCIS implemented a “hold and review” for applications from an expanded list of high-risk countries, with Syria under “Full Restrictions,” while Turkish nationals continued to face standard vetting but fell under the broader 2026 audit of screening procedures.
In another marker of the U.S. direction on temporary humanitarian tools, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem issued several notices terminating Temporary Protected Status for various nations, including Yemen and Somalia, as of March 10, 2026, material on TPS updates shows.
In Canada, the end of special measures has collided with a political backdrop that points to tighter control of parts of the temporary migration system. Reports from March 2026 described a shift in Canada’s migration policy after the transition of leadership to Mark Carney on March 14, 2025, which prioritized “curbing low-skill temporary migration.”
The earthquake measures were not framed as low-skill policy, but the broader emphasis on constraints has shaped expectations among survivors and advocates about how much room the government may see for new, targeted relief tied to a past crisis.
For people whose permits are expiring, “standard streams” means competing within existing programs and their requirements, rather than receiving a category built around the disaster. Express Entry and Provincial Nominee Programs are among the routes that remain available, but they do not provide a blanket continuation of the 2023 measures and do not automatically attach to past participation in the earthquake policy.
The TS2023 Initiative linked the current pressure to conditions in Türkiye, where recovery continues and housing remains a central problem. “Our homes in our hometowns have been destroyed; we came to Canada for a new life. We want a fair and reasonable solution for permanent residence,” the group said in a statement issued today, March 16, 2026.
The International Organization for Migration reported that, as of February 2026, over 360,000 people in Türkiye were still living in container housing. The figure has become a reference point for families who argue that return can mean renewed instability even three years after the disaster.
The Canadian program focused on immediate facilitation rather than permanent resettlement, and its closure for new applications has left survivors facing a stark choice. Those who find a way into ordinary immigration channels can stay, while those who do not must plan departures as their lawful status ends.
The results are already visible in the voluntary returns reported since the program’s peak, and in the near-term expectation that thousands more will leave in the coming weeks. For some households, return planning also intersects with children’s schooling, job continuity and the logistics of re-establishing life in Türkiye while rebuilding remains incomplete in parts of the earthquake zone.
Canada’s stance that the measures were time-limited has remained consistent, but the practical consequences are now landing at scale as the cohort reaches the end of extensions granted under the 2023 policy. Employers who hired people on open work permits and schools that enrolled students under temporary permissions face turnover as documents expire, and families face decisions about whether they can qualify under ordinary Canadian pathways quickly enough to remain.
IRCC has continued to publish immigration information through its newsroom and program pages, while U.S. agencies have posted updates related to humanitarian programs and policy alerts. The TS2023 Initiative has also maintained a public portal as it presses for solutions for those who entered under the Canada measures.
Readers can find Canadian immigration updates through the IRCC newsroom at IRCC Newsroom and the earthquake measures page at IRCC earthquakes in Syria and Türkiye. U.S. updates appear at USCIS Alerts, along with TPS information at Temporary Protected Status and broader DHS postings at DHS news updates. The TS2023 Initiative statement and related material are available via the group’s portal at TS2023 Initiative.
