The Canadian Government says it is looking into a plan to help fast-track immigration from Haiti in the wake of the earthquake that has crippled the Caribbean country. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Thursday that he and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney have been discussing ways to ease immigration and refugee rules to allow more Haitians into Canada quickly.

The federal government is looking at ways to make it easier for Haitians to come to Canada as immigrants or refugees, in response to the devastating earthquake in the Caribbean country. Options include waiving fees, speeding up applications for family reunification, and perhaps even relaxing the definition of who can be included in reunification.

The Canadian Government previously enacted temporary measures to speed-up reunification of sponsored immigrants with their families in Canada, after the December 2004 tsunami that killed over 270,000 people in 11 countries in Asia and Africa. The hardest hit countries were Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Citizenship and Immigration Canada waived fees and granted priority processing to affected applicants.

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Ottawa is working closely with Quebec’s immigration minister, Yolande James, to make sure both levels of government are on the same page. Quebec is the primary destination for Haitian immigrants in Canada, and Montreal has one of the biggest concentrations of Haitian populations living abroad.

Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced today that passengers aboard non-commercial aircraft bringing aid to and evacuating people from Haiti that are making a technical stop or transiting through Canada’s airports temporarily will not require a visa.

Yesterday he also agreed to exempt foreign nationals who are directly responding to, or affected by, the humanitarian situation in Haiti and intend to transit through Canada on a non-commercial aircraft for the sole purpose of refuelling and/or making a technical stop from the requirement to obtain a temporary resident visa. This measure will be in place temporarily.