Consular Services: Emergency

Consular officials can:

  • issue you an emergency travel document if you are in urgent, proven need and are stranded in a foreign country
  • issue you a temporary passport if you are in urgent, proven need and are waiting to receive a regular passport
  • help in a medical emergency by offering you appropriate assistance and providing you with an accurate and up-to-date list of local registered physicians and health care facilities
  • help you arrange for a medical evacuation and safe transfer, including liaison with service providers, if necessary treatment is not available locally
  • provide assistance in cases of missing persons or the abduction of a Canadian child to another country
  • contact your next of kin, with your authorization, if you have had an accident
  • In cases of robbery, sexual assault or other violent crime:
    • provide you with contact information on local police and medical services
    • help you find support to deal with the emotional, social, medical and legal consequences of a crime
    • assist in contacting relatives or friends
    • put you in contact with counselling services
    • assist in meeting your basic safety needs
    • engage with local authorities regarding a criminal investigation and the laying of charges
    • inform you of your eligibility to apply for emergency financial assistance through the Victims Fund, administered by Justice Canada

Consular officials cannot:

  • coordinate and pay for search-and-rescue efforts to locate missing Canadians
  • pay for air ambulance or other aeromedical services
  • investigate a crime or death or intervene in a local police investigation