How the strikes affect passports, immigration and taxes

Eight business days were lost to the strike held by federal workers nominally employed by the Treasury Board of Canada, while another three were lost for workers at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

Those public servants from the Treasury Board work at a wide array of government agencies and departments, including sites offering key frontline services such as passport and immigration application processing.

How was work at those services affected by the strikes? What should you know going into those offices this week?

Here's what we know. 

While the strike did not create a significant backlog of passport applications, people might still experience longer than normal lines this week, Families,Families, Children and Social Development Minister Karina Gould said.

Service Canada received about 27,900 applications during the disruption, far fewer than forecasted. Only applications that met essential criteria for humanitarian or emergency situations were processed during the strike. 

Data does suggest the strike might have prompted a bit of a surge. 

More recent figures hadn't been posted as of Wednesday afternoon, but during the week of April 10-16 — the same week the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) announced Treasury Board workers might walk off the job — Employment and Social Development Canada received 74,830 applications. 

That was up 17 per cent from the week before. 

With services in full swing again, passport seekers whose cases are deemed urgent, including people with visa needs or who are travelling imminently, will be prioritized.

Don't want to chance it? You can request urgent or express passport services at specialized passport offices for a fee.

Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said Tuesday about 100,000 immigration cases went unprocessed during the strike.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) had already been catching up in recent months from significant backlogs created during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fraser said the recent strike means it will take longer to get back to pre-pandemic service standards, but he expects the department will have an easier time getting through the backlog thanks to recent changes that have boosted productivity in the workforce.