In Partnership with London Consular Services

The Maple Leaf Trust is delighted to partner again with the London Consular Services team to provide "Instant Assistance for Canadian Travellers in Distress" through a special fund. This is an extension of a vital fund which helped Canadian in distress in the UK in 2020-21. The fund has been used to help homeless Canadians, young people who have faced social & mental health challenges and women fleeing domestic violence during COVID.

Background

Consular Services assists many Canadians every year. The typical workload involves producing passports for both tourists and UK–based Canadians along with processing certificates of citizenship for children born in the UK. The Consular Services team serves as the public face of Canada for Canadians requiring help resulting from unforeseen circumstances. Consular Services assists victims of crime and provide guidance to travellers who have become overwhelmed being away from home. Consular Services direct Canadians to local social services, help tourists who have fallen ill and the families of Canadians who have died while in the UK. Consular Services ensure Canadian children who are orphaned or abandoned are able to connect with resources in Canada and provide assistance to mentally ill travellers and their families.

Present Resources

The Consular Services team have a wealth of knowledge about support services and the primary role is to direct Canadians in distress to the right resource so they can help themselves, including the local health service, charity or UK agency, family and friends who are able to assist. In exceptional circumstances, a distressed Canadian can apply for an emergency loan from the Government of Canada, although there is a multi-staged approvals process and can only be used for very specific purposes.

Plan

With the support of the Maple Leaf Trust, Consular Services will implement a process for providing emergency items to Canadian travellers who require assistance. The critical element is timing. People seeking assistance tend to have exhausted their financial reserves and require immediate help to assist until a longer-term solution is found.

Some examples of where Consular Services can assist: Hostels for one/two nights while sorting out repatriation to Canada, meal and local transport; items like clean clothes for rough sleeping travellers so they can board a flight. In addition, funding to provide small birthday and/or holiday gifts for Canadian children in care of UK social services.