The following information has been provided to our office
by Service Canada and was updated on April 24, 2023.

IMORTANT: www.Canada.ca and call centres (1 800 O-Canada) are the key points of contact for Canadians seeking information related to federal programs and services.

Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, Employment Insurance

The Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security and Employment Insurance are deemed essential services and are maintained during the current labour disruption. Payments continue to be issued to clients.

While we expect there may be some processing delays and increased wait times in call centres, Service Canada is working to minimize impacts to service standards and answer client enquiries and calls in a timely manner.

Service Canada Centres will remain open during the labour disruption

In-person services through Service Canada Centres, as well as virtual support through eServiceCanada and the Outreach Support Centre, is be limited to clients requiring assistance with Old Age Security/the Guaranteed Income Supplement, the Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance, and issuance of Social Insurance Numbers (SIN). Offices are open; however, days of operation and hours of in-person service may vary for a limited number of locations.

Service Canada is making every effort to ensure clients can continue to be served in person. The safety of clients and staff remains a top priority. Clients should feel safe and comfortable to access a Service Canada office even during a labour disruption. Canadians may also seek self-service online options, available through Canada.ca.

Scheduled outreach sites are operating at reduced, or alternate, frequency during this time. In addition to the core services outlined above for Service Canada Centres, outreach is being prioritized for the following supports and services:

• SIN@Landing available at the Toronto Pearson Airport for new arrivals;
• SIN clinics that reduce traffic at Service Canada Centres (for example, international students and Afghan/Ukrainian newcomers); and
• mass layoffs.

Passport services

During the current labour disruption, essential government services that continue to be delivered are the result of an agreement between the employer and the union. Most domestic passport services are currently not available. Delays should be expected in the processing of passport applications during the current labour disruption.

Domestic Passport services

During the current labour disruption, Service Canada only processes domestic passport applications for emergency and humanitarian situations. Passport services are available only at specialized passport sites.

Humanitarian/emergency situations are defined as:

• passport clients at risk of financial hardship
• passport clients who rely on travel as a source of employment, and their income security will be jeopardized
• passport clients who must travel for medical reasons, or have had a death or illness in the family
• passport clients whose situation is deemed urgent on compassionate grounds

Passport applications that do not meet these criteria will not be processed when employees are striking. Delivery times will exceed published service standards.

Passport services for Canadians living outside of Canada

The processing of regular passports to Canadians residing outside of Canada, including in the United States, is deemed an essential service and continues through the current labour disruption, although clients may experience delays.

Visit Find a Service Canada Office for a comprehensive list of Service Canada Centres, passport offices and scheduled outreach sites, including up-to-date hours of operation.

Call centres / Canada.ca

Canada.ca and call centres are the key points of contact for Canadians seeking information related to our programs and services.

Canadians’ access to general information is largely being maintained through the General Enquiry and Referral Telephone Service (1 800 O-Canada) and through the Department’s various web resources at Canada.ca.

Canadians can also check the contact us page, Contact Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) – Canada.ca, for additional information.

Other important programs

Service Canada continues to deliver other important programs and services to Canadians, however, some slowdowns may be experienced.

Grants and contributions programs

Grants and contributions programs provide funding to a wide range of community organizations that support social development, increase opportunities for Canadians to participate in their communities, and help Canadians access the post-secondary education, skills development and employment opportunities they need to participate in a changing labour market across the country.

During the labour disruption, Service Canada is prioritizing essential services functions in support of its over 40 different grants and contributions programs. These essential functions include issuing payments to organizations to continue to implement existing projects and agreements, and responding to emerging community needs and urgencies.

However, there may be delays in processing payments and in our response time to organizations. To focus on these priority areas, other ongoing grants and contributions functions may be deferred or delayed, including:

• negotiation and conclusion of new contribution agreements;
• the launch of new grants and contributions funding opportunities; and
• support to clients, including monitoring and responding to external enquiries from the public.

Temporary Foreign Worker Program

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program allows Canadian employers to hire foreign workers to fill temporary jobs when qualified Canadians are not available. During the current labour disruption, processing activities are focused on employer applications in the primary agriculture, food processing, trucking and health-related sectors. Applications for other sectors may experience delays in receiving decisions on their requests depending on the duration of the disruption. The TFWP confidential tip line remains in service. Tips and allegations are triaged to prioritize situations of mistreatment or abuse that would put at risk the health or safety of foreign workers. Compliance activities for the program are focused on inspections which were triggered by a reason to suspect that the employer may not be complying or has not complied with TFWP conditions.  This includes situations where the processing of an LMIA may have been suspended due to a concern to the health or safety of the foreign workers.

Canada Student Financial Assistance Program

The Canada Student Financial Assistance Program delivers Canada Student Grants, Canada Student Loans, Canada Apprentice Loans and the Repayment Assistance Plan in partnership with provinces and a third-party service provider. No major disruption is anticipated, although resolution of some complex cases may take longer.

Canada Education Savings Grant, Canada Learning Bond, Canada Disability Savings Grant and Canada Disability Savings Bond

• Grant and bond payments: processing of grant and bond payments to financial institutions for deposit into RESPs and RDSPs continue, but may be delayed. However, clients will still be able to withdraw eligible funds from these savings plans through their financial institutions.
• Client Service Contact Centre: a recorded message  informs clients of the temporary disruption in contact centre activities.

Job Bank

Job Bank (www.JobBank.gc.ca) is a free and bilingual online job board that helps workers connect with jobs and employers to post job opportunities. It also provides labour market information. Job seeker and labour market information services are not affected; however, the strike could cause delays for some employers.

Canada Summer Jobs 2023

The Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) program provides wage subsidies to employers from not-for-profit organizations, the public sector, and private sector organizations with 50 or fewer full-time employees to create quality summer work experiences for young people aged 15 to 30 years. While every effort will be made to adhere to established CSJ program timelines for the 2023 hiring period (including MP notifications from April 14 to April 20, and April 24 as the earliest job start date) the current labour disruption may result in delays.

The labour disruption will also have further impacts on possible reinvestment phases for additional CSJ jobs for youth as the summer period progresses to the end of CSJ 2023 on September 2.

Labour Program

The Labour Program promotes safe, healthy, fair and inclusive work conditions and cooperative workplace relations.

Some programs and services offered by the Labour Program are impacted by the current labour disruption and stakeholders may experience delays. The Federal Workers Compensation Service (FWCS) and Refusal to Work and Hazardous Occurrence investigations under Canada Labour Code Part II (Occupational Health and Safety) are deemed essential services and are maintained during the current labour disruption.
Other important benefits

Service Canada continues to deliver other important benefits on behalf of the Government of Canada. There are no anticipated impacts on the delivery of these benefits as a result of the current labour disruption.

The Canada–Ukraine Transitional Assistance Initiative is a one-time payment delivered by Service Canada on behalf of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada that provides financial assistance to cover essential needs of Ukrainian families settled in Canada under the Canada–Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel.

The Coal Workforce Transition Program issues payments to eligible recipients through a partnership agreement between the Government of Alberta and Employment and Social Development Canada. The program, established by the Government of Alberta, assists workers who involuntarily lost their jobs due to the closing of one or more coal-fired power plants or mines.

The Canadian Benefit for Parents of Young Victims of Crime is a benefit payable to eligible parents or legal guardians who consider or have taken time away from work and suffered a loss of income to cope with the death or disappearance of their child or children.

Canada apprenticeship grants provide taxable cash grants to eligible apprentices through various grant programs, including the Apprenticeship Completion Grant, the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant, and the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant for Women pilot project.

The Apprenticeship Incentive Grant for Women was a five-year pilot project that was introduced in 2018 to encourage women to enter, progress and complete their apprenticeship training in Red Seal trades where they are under-represented. Lessons learned from this pilot project will inform future Government of Canada programming to support women wishing to pursue a career in the Red Seal trades.  While applications for this grant will not be accepted after March 31, 2023—the date on which the pilot project ended—women apprentices may be eligible to apply for the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant.

The Wage Earner Protection Program provides the payment of outstanding eligible wages to individuals whose employer is bankrupt, subject to a receivership, or subject to another qualifying insolvency proceeding within the meaning of subsection 243(2) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

The Fish Harvester Benefit was delivered by Service Canada on behalf of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Remaining activities in 2023 pertaining to the benefit include the issuance/reissuance of 2022 T4 tax slips.