The ongoing federal workers’ strike could have a “severe” impact on Canada’s immigration system, Ottawa has warned, as concerns mounts over how long the labour dispute might last.
Before the strike kicked off Wednesday, Canada was already facing a backlog of immigration applications and visa delays after more than three years of the pandemic.
“Unfortunately, the labour disruption will have an impact on the gains that we have made and the work that we’ve been doing to address some of these backlogs in our inventories since the pandemic,” Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said at a news conference in Ottawa Wednesday.
Prior to the strike many immigration services had returned to pre-pandemic service standards and “we were getting very close to restoring service standards across all of our lines of business,” said Fraser.
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At any given time it is common for the immigration department to be managing more than one million applications, said Fraser, but the strike puts the agency at a “significantly reduced capacity.”
“I do expect that the impact will be severe depending on the length of any work stoppage, “ Fraser told reporters.
Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has warned to expect delays in processing applications, in-person appointments, communication with IRCC, citizenship event and passport services.
But people should still be able to submit their online and mailed applications to IRCC, access their online accounts, as well as some emergency services, the agency says on its website.
Other services offered by non-governmental organizations will still be offered, such as health-care services in Canada, settlement and resettlement services and visa applications centres outside of the country.
Warren Creates, an immigration lawyer in Ottawa, said the current labour disruption threatens to erode “the lack of confidence and trust” that has plagued Canada’s immigration system in recent years.
“We’re all waiting to get approvals for our employer clients, for the people that want to be reunited with their family members, the people that want to come here,” he told Global News in an interview.
“They’re desperate every day. They want answers. And this is just a step backwards, unfortunately.”
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Over the past year, the IRCC has been trying to play catch up and reduce wait times with additional funding, hiring new processing staff, digitizing applications and reallocating work among offices around the world.
Last year, the war in Ukraine added to IRCC’s inventory backlog, as the federal government announced two special programs to help Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion.
Since January 2022, 208,793 Ukrainians have arrived in Canada, including CUAET applicants and returning Canadian permanent residents, according to IRCC’s latest figures, as of April 9.
The Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel program (CUAET), which expedites visas and temporary residency permits for Ukrainians and their families, will remain in effect until July 15.
Since settlement and referral organizations are non-governmental, but federally funded, CUAET clients will continue to access services during the strike period, the IRCC says.
“Government-assisted refugees will continue to receive income support payments and we’re going to continue to provide temporary accommodations for vulnerable groups, including those, for example, who’ve recently fled the war in Ukraine,” said Fraser.
Canada set a new immigration record last year with more than 430,000 permanent residents arriving in the country.
In November, the federal government announced its 2023-25 immigration plan, with the target of welcoming 1.45 million new immigrants over the next three years.
— With files from Global’s David Baxter
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