Canada’s largest strike by federal workers is nearing its third week, causing a backlog in immigration services and leaving thousands of people in limbo.
The strike, which began on April 19, has affected everyone from migrant workers to sponsored relatives, from foreign students to refugee claimants whose hearings have been cancelled.
Reuters reports that while wages are a primary sticking point for the 155,000 federal public servants on strike, the union is also demanding remote work be included in its collective agreement. According to what has been publicly revealed, other important sticking points during negotiations include who determines remote work regulations, contracts, and seniority during layoffs.
Since 2021, the union and government have been negotiating a new contract. The union claims its members need assistance with rising living costs, while the government claims it wants an agreement that is fair to both the union and taxpayers. Both sides agree that members should be paid more but disagree on how much. The government has declared officially that it will not grant a rise of more than 9 percent over three years, whereas the union seeks a greater rise.
Strike threatens to hamper growth
The delay caused by the strike is compounding an already backlogged immigration system trying to catch up with pandemic delays. Canada has raised its immigration target to a record 500,000 additional permanent residents per year by 2025 to support sectors with labour shortages ranging from healthcare to construction.
However, some would-be newcomers are left waiting abroad, while others are left wondering whether their permits will expire. Employers are also without the required staff, and people waiting on passports cannot travel.
The strike comes at a time when Canada’s reduced birth rate makes immigration a major engine of economic growth, and a malfunctioning immigration system might impede efforts to attract smart immigrants.
Tens of thousands of files have not been processed as a result of the strike, according to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Minister Sean Fraser, and the longer the strike continues, the more serious the consequences will be.
Fraser has said that his department would strive to identify priority areas where people’s lives may be jeopardised in order to sustain important activities. Fraser adds that once the scale of the backlog is clear, “we may have to look at what policy decisions we should make to play catch-up.”
As of February 1 of last year, Canada had a logjam of more than 1.8 million immigration petitions, according to data from the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) department, including 519,030 petitions for permanent residence, including 158,778 for refugee status. There were 848,598 applications for temporary residency and 448,000 applicants for Canadian citizenship.
Immigration department spokespeople whose jobs have been disrupted by the strike were unable to provide specifics on the strike’s effects on immigration services.
With no end in sight to the strike, the question that many are asking – how long will people aiming to immigrate have to wait?
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