IRCC will issue visas slower
Bad news: employees of the Canadian Ministry of Immigration have joined a union strike.
Employees of IRCC have officially joined the strike of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), one of the largest unions in the country that represents federal and municipal workers, essentially a union for government officials.
The union of civil servants failed to reach an agreement with the Canadian government led by Trudeau, so a massive strike began on Wednesday. It is not disclosed what representatives of the union talked about with politicians as this is considered information not for public access. However, negotiations concerned wage increases due to the declining standard of living. Inflation is increasing in Canada, so now residents need to spend more to maintain their accustomed standard of living. Therefore, activists demand an increase in hourly wages.
The authorities say that they cannot fully comply with the demands of the strikers because it threatens negative consequences for the economy, but they are willing to continue negotiations until the parties reach an agreement.
Due to the Ministry's participation in the union's action, they will process applications more slowly and take longer to issue visas. However, there is good news: only part of the employees are participating in the strike, and their colleagues continue to work. They will issue about 80 visas daily. The goal of the strike is not to interrupt socially important processes, such as the admission of immigrants, but to slow them down to show how important the work of civil servants is for the country.
However, Canadians and foreigners waiting for a response from the Ministry report that they are disappointed but not surprised. They complain that it has always worked slowly, so no one expected to receive a visa promptly. Witty commentators have already recalled Flash, the sloth character from “Zootopia”, and compared local civil servants to him.
We advise not to despair: Canadian authorities and leaders of the Civil Service Union plan to reach an agreement soon, and then the Ministry will resume its operation as usual. If you are waiting for your visa, you can take advantage of the delay to learn more about Canada. For example, take our course on job search in this country.
