Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The scale and scope of the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented for us and is probably the most complex consular emergency we've had to manage, in that it's limited not just to one country or region but has global impact, including here at home at our headquarters.
We are providing consular assistance to Canadians in all countries of the world simultaneously, and at the same time we've had to redesign how we work in order to keep our own staff abroad, and their families, safe and healthy.
Since we last met, Global Affairs has been working around the clock to facilitate the safe return home of thousands of Canadian travellers who found themselves stranded because of the sudden imposition of border measures to prevent further COVID-19 spread.
Our efforts have included coordinating flights and logistics for air travel and the travel by air, sea and road that's required in order to reach those flights. We've been operationalizing constantly changing global travel advisories and travel information updates. We have stood up a new COVID-19 emergency loan program abroad and we are continuing to provide our normal emergency consular services while coping with the additional caseload related to COVID-19.
In the last 10 days, we have facilitated 42 flights back home from 29 countries, enabling thousands of Canadians to return, and we have flights planned for an additional 20 destinations in the coming days, including flights later this week from India and Pakistan.
At the same time, we're contributing to the government-wide efforts to keep essential goods and services that Canadians depend on moving across borders, preparing for the future by sustaining our international alliances, sustaining global supply chains and responding to urgent calls for assistance from the international community.
Information is critical for good decision-making. To this end, we have issued an official global travel advisory for Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel abroad and to avoid all travel by cruise ship.
Hundreds of updates have been made in real time to our country-specific travel advice to help Canadians make well-informed decisions and be aware of border closures and restrictions.
We continue to urge all Canadians outside of Canada to register with the “registration of Canadians abroad” service so they can receive important updates and check the entry and exit requirements of the countries through which they might need to transit. In addition, Canadians in need of emergency consular assistance can contact our 24-7 emergency watch and response centre by email or by phone.
We know that in many regions there are still Canadians trying to get home. We are continuing to work with other governments, local authorities and commercial airlines to find new options. In countries where commercial flight options are no longer available, we've been facilitating access to special flights and we have worked with domestic authorities to unlock restrictions on domestic movement that have been imposed due to local quarantines.
We continue to monitor cruise ships still afloat with Canadian passengers and crew. We have updated this committee in the past on our efforts with the Diamond Princess and the Grand Princess, and we are continuing to work around the clock to ensure the safe passage of citizens back home from the ships that remain at sea.
In the past week we have had successful repatriations from ships docked in Brazil, Argentina, South Africa and Chile, and we are working right now with our international partners to secure the passage of the Zaandam and Rotterdam through the Panama Canal and to assist with disembarkation once they make their way to Florida.
We have dramatically increased the number of Global Affairs Canada staff in our emergency watch and response centre to respond to the high volumes of calls and emails that we're receiving from Canadians abroad. After a peak of around 10,000 calls and emails a day, in the last few days we have been receiving an average of 5,000 calls and emails. We've been increasing staff to respond to demand and have been able to keep wait times over the last four or five days to around two minutes.
As part of our consular efforts we've put in place the COVID-19 emergency loan program for Canadians who have no source of funds available to return home or to sustain them while they are forced to remain abroad. This is an emergency repayable loan that helps either to facilitate their return to Canada or to cover their basic essential needs. To date approximately 500 loans, totalling $1.4 million, have been approved, and we are prioritizing pending applications that are required for urgent flights.
Despite the challenging circumstances, all of our Canadian diplomatic missions abroad remain open, and we are providing full consular and emergency services to Canadians even as we take the necessary precautions to protect the health and safety of our staff, their families and visitors to our missions.
Of course, we have to respect the guidance and rules imposed by local health authorities. We have adapted our service delivery models to local conditions and constraints on accessibility.
While we continue to make extraordinary efforts to assist travellers in returning, as Minister Champagne has made clear, with mounting restrictions abroad it is becoming increasingly difficult to bring Canadian travellers back home. To that end, we have developed a new page with advice for Canadians who are remaining outside of Canada on their safety and security. Having learned from our experiences in China, Japan, Italy, and other lockdown situations, we've provided new guidance to all of our missions on the unique demands of quarantine situations and on the kinds of services we need to provide in those circumstances.
We're also continuing to work with external stakeholders to try to address emerging challenges, for example, by encouraging travel insurance providers to continue to support Canadians impacted by COVID-19, especially those who are unable to return to Canada through no fault of their own, by renewing or extending insurance policies.
In conclusion, since the beginning of this crisis we've been focused on trying to take concrete actions to ensure that Canadians remain healthy and safe so that we can assist those who are affected and repatriate those we can. The situation has evolved over the past two months from our response to quarantines in specific regions, countries and aboard specific ships to what is a global consular effort in mobilizing the resources of our entire department and our mission network in every country as well as here at home. We are going to continue to rely on our dedicated and professional staff to respond to these new challenges and to serve Canadians in the best way we can.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.