Family of Ottawa mass-murder victims urges immigration minister to help reunite them

The family of an Ottawa family killed two years ago is asking the federal government to help reunite them with loved ones. CTV’s Katelyn Wilson reports.

Nearly two years after one of Ottawa’s deadliest mass killings, family members of the lone survivor and the lawyer representing them are calling on the federal immigration minister to intervene, saying they can’t begin to heal until they’re reunited.

Chelaka Wickramasinghe hasn’t seen his daughter in almost two years. She’s three now and knows her father only through a screen.

“I miss her a lot because she’s the princess in my family,” said Wickramasinghe.

Wickramasinghe came to Canada with his father, Thissa, two years ago after his brother, Dhanushka Wickramasinghe, survived the mass stabbing in Barrhaven that killed his wife, four children and a close family friend. It was a tragedy that shocked Ottawa and remains one of the city’s worst mass killings in recent memory.

In November, Febrio De-Zoysa, who lived with the family, was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years, after pleading guilty to four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

Since the attack, Wickramasinghe has stayed in Canada to support his brother by helping with meals, day-to-day care and rebuilding his brother’s business.

“I really want to get my wife and daughter because I cannot leave my brother in this situation. I cannot go back to Sri Lanka to visit my family because I cannot leave my brother this moment because he is also still struggling to live,” he said.

Wickramasinghe’s permanent residency was recently approved on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, along with approvals for his father and Dhanushka. But that program only applies to people already in Canada.

Immigration lawyer trying to reunite family

His wife and daughter remain in Sri Lanka after their visitor visa applications were denied in 2024. A request for reconsideration was also rejected.

“Every day is another day he’s not with his wife and daughter and so, knowing that you’re causing your brother that pain because he’s helping you, the family just can’t move forward, not until they’re all together,” said immigration and refugee lawyer Ronalee Carey.

Carey says that while permanent residency opens the door for family sponsorship, current timelines could still leave the family separated for another 14 months.

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She adds there are options that could bring them to Canada much sooner and is calling on the federal immigration minister to step in.

“The immigration minister could look at the reconsideration request, reopen the visitor visa applications and issue those visitor visas so they can come on a plane next week. That would be the best scenario here. I can take care of the sponsorship application once they get here, that’s not a problem,” Carey said.

“His niece is all that’s left, she is the only child in the extended family. And for Dhanushka, he sees that as his reason for wanting to live.”

Carey says she has contacted Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab multiple times but has not received a response.

“I think if I were to walk down the street and asked the first person I saw, do you know about the Barrhaven murders? Do you think that the brother’s family should be able to come so the whole family can be together? I can’t imagine anyone would say no,” she said.

“If we have this public outpouring of support and the media is now picking this up across the country, there should be a way to do this more quickly.”

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Wickramasinghe believes reuniting his wife and daughter with him in Canada could also help his brother heal.

“He doesn’t have a wife, he doesn’t have any babies, so I want him to be a father to my baby girl as well,” he said.

The family plans to live together once reunited, saying it’s the only way forward after unimaginable loss.

CTV News Ottawa reached out to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for comment and was told due to privacy legislation, it could not comment on individual cases without consent.