Canada is coordinating commercial seats, charter flights and ground transport to help more than 2,000 citizens leave the Middle East after recent regional attacks, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said. Ottawa has secured 75 seats on a Beirut flight, is arranging charters from the UAE pending airspace approval, and is organizing bus transfers where routes remain open. Commercial air traffic across major Gulf hubs remains largely suspended, prompting international repatriation efforts and travel advisories.
Canada Moves to Repatriate 2,000+ Citizens From Middle East Amid Major Flight Disruptions
FILE PHOTO: Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand arrives on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, January 28, 2026. REUTERS/Patrick Doyle/File Photo
Canada is intensifying efforts to repatriate more than 2,000 citizens who have sought government assistance to leave the Middle East following recent regional attacks, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said on March 4.
What Ottawa Is Doing
The government is arranging a mix of options: booking seats on commercial flights, contracting charter aircraft and organizing overland transport to neighboring countries where airports remain open. Ottawa has secured 75 seats on a flight departing Beirut and is preparing to offer additional seats in the coming days for Canadians wishing to leave Lebanon.
Anand said her department has been instructed to negotiate contracts for charter flights departing the United Arab Emirates in the coming days, pending UAE government approval to use its airspace. Commercial air traffic across many Gulf hubs, including Dubai, has been largely suspended for several days — the biggest regional disruption to aviation since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ground and Regional Support
Two hundred Canadians holding plane tickets were being transported by bus from Qatar to Saudi Arabia, and officials are arranging additional ground-transport options for others in Qatar. In Israel, officials are sharing information about an Israeli government-run bus service to Egypt that can carry passengers onward to open airports there.
Canada cannot arrange ground transportation out of Iran because it does not maintain a diplomatic presence there, but it has deployed officials to border crossings to meet Canadians who cross the border and assist with visas and onward travel.
"Your government is with you. We are working hard for you, and we are arranging options for you to leave the region," Anand said at a news conference.
Scope and Advisories
More than 2,000 Canadians have requested assistance since the U.S. and Israel struck targets in Iran; roughly half of those requests come from Canadians in the United Arab Emirates. Other reported requests include 237 from Qatar, 164 from Lebanon, 93 from Israel and 74 from Iran.
Ottawa has issued travel advisories urging Canadians to avoid all travel to Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel and Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, and to avoid non-essential travel to Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
Repatriation flights organized by other countries, including Britain and France, were also scheduled to depart regional airports as some states opened secure corridors to permit limited travel.
Help us improve.
