Notice – Operation Stork: February 6, 2010 update

February 6, 2010 — A flight carrying one Haitian child to his new Canadian parents will land in Ottawa tonight. Also on board are a number of Canadians being evacuated from Haiti. Air Canada staff will accompany the 16-year old child and evacuees.

The flight will arrive at the Canada Reception Centre (Hangar 11) at Ottawa International Airport at approximately 11:30 pm (Eastern time) on February 6.

The next flight is scheduled to arrive in Ottawa on Wednesday, February 10. This is expected to be the last scheduled charter flight; however, children will continue to arrive on other flights as they are approved to come to Canada and flights are available.

All of the children being brought to Canada were already in the adoption process when the earthquake struck near Port-au-Prince. We are only proceeding with cases where a match between the child and parents was made prior to the earthquake.

All bona fide adoption cases will be processed and parents will be notified once the arrival of their child has been confirmed on a specific flight. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

Adoption facts

As of January 24, 2010, the Government of Haiti has given permission for up to 217 children to come to Canada. These children were at different steps in the adoption process when the earthquake struck near Port-au-Prince. Saturday’s arrival will be 181st to have arrived in Canada since the Haitian Prime Minister gave permission for children to be allowed to travel to Canada for adoption.
Of those, all 181 children have been united with their families in Canada.
- 31 children arrived in Ottawa on Wednesday, February 3. The children range in age from 6 months to 16 years old. One of the children is destined for Ontario, one for Alberta and the rest are going to Quebec. These children were accompanied by Air Transat staff, CIC officials, and a medical team.
- 62 children arrived in Ottawa on Saturday, January 30. The children range in age from 3 months to 17 years. Thirty-five of the children are destined for Quebec, and the rest are going to British Columbia (11), Alberta (10), Saskatchewan (2), Manitoba (2) and Ontario (2). The children were accompanied by Air Canada staff, CIC officials, and a medical team.
- 52 children arrived in Ottawa on Wednesday, January 27. The children range in age from six months to 18 years of age. Twenty-four of the children were destined for Quebec and the other children went to British Columbia (4), Alberta (11), Saskatchewan (8), Ontario (1), New Brunswick (2), and Nova Scotia (2). These children were accompanied by Air Transat staff, CIC officials, and a medical team.
- One child had arrived in Canada and another arrived on a Canadian Forces evacuation flight on January 26.
- 24 children arrived in Ottawa on Sunday, January 24. The children range in age from 11 months to 14 years in age, and were accompanied by Air Canada representatives, CIC officials, and a medical team.
- Nine children arrived through the United States having been evacuated on American evacuation flights.

A total of 237 children were adopted from Haiti by Canadians in 2008 and January-September of 2009.

Update on special immigration measures

Canada is expediting immigration applications from Haitians with family in this country. Haitians in Canada temporarily are also being allowed to extend their stay.

CIC is participating in a number of information sessions for the Haitian community in Montréal, Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver to provide information on the special immigration measures and on how to sponsor immediate family members who were directly and serious affected by the earthquake in Haiti.
- About 1,810 people have attended the information sessions in Montréal.
- About 215 people attended Toronto area information sessions on January 29th and February 5th.