19 April 2023: PSAC, a union which represents over 155,000 public servants in Canada, began what they regard as one of the largest strikes in the Canadian history. “As we begin this historic strike, PSAC bargaining teams will remain at the table night and day as they have been for weeks,” Aylward said. “We’re ready to reach a fair deal as soon as the government is ready to come to the table with a fair offer.”
Following the strike, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser indicated that this strike may impact the application processing times and lead to unknown delays. Canadians and newcomers are expected to face service disruptions from major departments of the Government of Canada; including IRCC, Service Canada and ESDC.
“Unfortunately, the labor 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.
Will IRCC process my application?
“The full scale of the disruption has certain unknown facts that make it difficult to assess with certainty the precise timelines or delays an applicant may face” – Sean Fraser. As IRCC is working with a limited capacity, the agents are working to process the emergency priority based applications with life threatening situations.
IRCC is still accepting applications via mail and online, however there will be delays in processing.
Can I contact during IRCC strike?
IRCC is not answering social media inquiries. Applicants can expect longer response times for calls and webforms too.
What if I am outside Canada?
IRCC says that Citizenship and Passport services outside of Canada may also experience delays. Immigration-related appointments and interviews are proceeding as scheduled, unless advised otherwise by the IRCC office outside Canada.
Can I get an appointment if I am inside Canada?
Immigration related appointments will either be re-scheduled or cancelled. Citizenship events will also be rescheduled.
When will the IRCC strike end?
Latest updates on the labor disruption can be found here.UPDATE 01 MAY 2023 – The IRCC Social Media team has returned to full capacity and will answer questions received via Direct Message (DM) as of May 1 at 09:00AM [EST]