Cuts may worsen processing times in already clogged system, immigration lawyer says
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced its plan to cut around 3,300 jobs in the next three years for the purpose of returning to its spending and staffing levels in 2021 before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
The IRCC had about 13,100 employees by the end of March 2024 as compared with 7,864 in 2019 and 5,900 in 2014, according to data from the Treasury Board, shared in an article by CBC News.
“Staffing within IRCC is being adjusted to align with reduced levels and permanent funding,” in accordance with directions given to it and other departments, the IRCC said in a statement to CBC.
IRCC told CBC that it relied on temporary funding to adapt to its swift expansion these past few years in response to the pandemic and other global crises. While immigration kept the country’s economy afloat, it also pressured housing, infrastructure, and social services, the IRCC said.
Rubina Boucher, national president of the Canada Employment and Immigration Union (CEIU), called this announcement “absolutely shocking” in an interview with CBC. In the interview, Boucher expressed fears about the impacts of the cuts on both families and businesses.
“Families longing to reunite, businesses grappling with critical labour shortages and a healthcare system desperate for skilled workers will all suffer the consequences of this reckless decision,” Boucher added in a joint statement of the CEIU and the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
Tamara Mosher-Kuczer, senior lawyer and founder of Lighthouse Immigration Law, spoke to CBC about how the cuts might further worsen the processing times involved in an already clogged system.
In a Jan. 20 email, the federal immigration department informed its employees that it would be making cuts due to budgetary reasons, CBC reported. These changes would affect each sector and branch and could terminate certain term contracts early, the email said.
“We estimate that about 80 per cent of these reductions can be achieved by eliminating planned staffing, terms, and other temporary staffing commitments,” the email stated, according to CBC. “The remaining 20 per cent of reductions will need to be achieved though the WFA (workforce adjustment) process and will affect indeterminate employees.”
The email stated that the IRCC aimed to reduce both salary and non-salary spending by $237 million in 2025–2026 and by $336 million in 2027–2028, CBC also reported.
“We've been working under an ever-increasing budget and need to learn to live within a defined – and reduced – budget moving forward,” the email said.
Impacted employees would learn their fate beginning mid-February, with at least 30 days’ notice, the email explained.
“Although the affected functions have been identified, the individual positions have not,” the email said.
