On May 1, 2023, most of the feared public employee strikes were called off, with the exception of the CRA, allowing citizens and permanent resident applicants to breathe a sigh of relief for most federal government services, including immigration.
citizens and permanent resident applicants using most federal government services can breathe a sigh of relief. The federal
The public service union strike began on April 19 and involved more than 155,000 members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). The unions are seeking to delegate work to private organizations
to private organizations, ensuring more job creation at the national level, expanding telecommuting again, and raising wages to account for inflation.
The strike was one of the largest in Canadian history, with workers demanding wage increases to account for inflation.
across the public sector, disrupting national services such as taxes, transportation, and insurance.
The strike also caused significant disruptions to public services, including the immigration
screening program and other public services were delayed or disrupted during the strike.
were faced with the same concerns.
Especially as the strike began, Canada's immigration minister, Sean Fraser, said he couldn't say how much applicants would be affected.
"It's impossible to say, but the length of the work stoppage could add to the severity of the aftermath.
Therefore, the call off of the strike is a positive sign that immigration will be able to meet its goals for the year.
will not be difficult to achieve this year. In reality, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Service Canada, and Employment and Social Development
Canada (ESDC), were even providing information about the expected problems that Canadians and newcomers might encounter.
During the strike, Service Canada, Immigration and Citizenship Canada, and others have said that they hope to provide some services to avoid the worst case scenario.
The disruption caused by the strike may have been greater than expected.
According to the announcement, immigration will have limited staffing during the strike, so there will be some delays in processing times.
and that processing speeds will vary depending on priorities. In order to utilize the workforce as efficiently as possible
to utilize the manpower as efficiently as possible, they have officially stated that they will process immigration cases in order of urgency.
and other documentation, so everyone is bound to be concerned about the processing time. In addition, during the strike, it was also announced that work visas, student visas, and
Canada's work visa, student visa, and other visa applications are conducted online, so the application itself was not a problem.
However, it was widely believed that not only the application process, but also the collection of biometric information and LMIA would be delayed.
Since the view that biometric information collection and LMIA issuance would be delayed was dominant, the application itself was expected to be disrupted and the influx of foreign workers would be greatly affected.
The problem is a bit more complicated in that it requires cooperation with other departments, so the voices calling for a quick resolution are getting louder.
There were also growing calls for a quick resolution.
As the strike was just beginning, there was a large gap between the union and the federal government to find a consensus.
While a prolonged strike was expected, the federal government and immigration authorities were actively trying to find a solution.
The government tried to be receptive to the union's negotiations, offering the union a 12.6 percent wage increase over four years.
over four years and promised to pay $2,500 to employees who were nearing retirement. This resulted in more than 120,000 federal workers nationwide
federal workers nationwide reached a tentative agreement to call off the strike and accept the proposed deal, and as of 9 a.m. on May 1
Most have returned to work.
The American Federation of Public Employees has been able to better communicate with its members and work with them on several
The federation said in a statement on May 1 that it had successfully resolved several issues related to hours and work, and that it had achieved this through collective action.
But disagreements over work from home, fair wages, and job security persist, according to some.
job security. In addition, the 35,000-member CRA has yet to agree to a settlement, so it remains to be seen what will happen next.
remains to be seen.
While the tentative agreement has yet to be ratified by the unions, immigration officers are returning to the workplace in droves.
This is good news for those who are applying for immigration, or who will be applying for immigration in the future.
I think it's good news, and I hope that everyone, including the immigration service and immigration applicants, will continue to work harder to achieve the goals of the immigration service.

and immigration applicants have endured a difficult time, so I expect that there will be a chance to achieve the goal of the immigration service and even more achievements.
I look forward to it.