Calgary’s Hong Kong community stages demonstration to call for acceleration of immigration process

Calgary's Hong Kong community held a rally Saturday to urge the federal government to accelerate its immigration process which they say has a huge backlog.

Calgary’s Hong Kong community demonstrated at the courthouse Saturday to remind the Canadian government that a promise is a promise.

Those gathered are advocates for the Hong Kong Pathway Alliance.

They were raising awareness about the ongoing backlog and delays affecting Hong Kong applicants wanting to immigrate to Canada.

The rally comes as the federal government prepares the 2027-2029 immigration levels plan which it says is a commitment to return to sustainable immigration levels.

The Pathway Alliance is providing input into that plan but many here are worried those waiting to come to Canada will fall through the cracks.

“The total backlog for Hong Kong pathway is about 35,000 cases,“ said Dominic Leung, a volunteer. ”It’s a fraction of the total immigration target, so we are advocating the government to impose a one-time measure to clear this backlog,

“This is not just number of on the paper,” Leung added. “These are families, these are lives -- these are life decisions made by this promise.”

Similar rallies took place in Vancouver and Toronto.