Ottawa will match up to $4 million in donations for earthquake relief in Venezuela

Two devastating earthquakes in Venezuela have left hundreds dead and thousands more without access to clean water, food and shelter. Jeremie Charron reports.

OTTAWA — The MP overseeing Canada’s foreign aid says Ottawa will match up to $4 million in public donations for Venezuelans still reeling from earthquakes, in addition to funding the federal government announced last week.

“Canadians really want to step up and really have a strong affinity and connection to the people of Venezuela,” Randeep Sarai, secretary of state for international development, told The Canadian Press.

Rare double earthquakes struck northern Venezuela 39 seconds apart last Wednesday. Officials reported Monday that more than 1,700 had been killed. Also Monday, a 4.6 magnitude aftershock occurred in what was already a disaster zone in La Guaira state.

Sarai said Ottawa will double donations the public makes to some Canadian charities supporting Venezuelans. Canada will match up to $2 million in donations made to both the Canadian Red Cross and the Humanitarian Coalition of a dozen aid organizations, for a total of $4 million.

He said Ottawa will match donations that were made between June 25 and July 14.

“A lot of Canadian organizations with grassroots connections will be able to raise those funds and give (people their) needs, from food to shelter, to medicine, to clothing and anything else that’s essential,” he said.

The funding is in addition to the $5 million in humanitarian aid Ottawa announced last Thursday for emergency relief efforts in Venezuela. Global Affairs Canada says that funding has secured more than 5,700 emergency relief items, such as emergency food, water, sanitation and health services, and protection and logistics services.

Sarai said the funding will not go to Venezuela’s government. Canada considers Venezuela’s government to be illegitimate and undemocratic and “one of the primary sources of geopolitical tension and instability in the Western Hemisphere,” according to a Global Affairs Canada online country profile.

While Sarai said he’s “confident” Venezuela will rebound from the crisis, he said it’s unfortunate that the heaviest impacts of natural disasters often fall on poorer people.

“It’s tragic, but with tragedy you always see a resilience, the community coming together, putting their differences aside, working hand in hand, and rescuing people first, helping support them in the interim and then rebuilding thereafter,” he said.

“I’m hoping that Mother Nature is kinder to the area and doesn’t do anything further.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2026.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press