The protest of Canadian Foreign Service Officers could have a significant impact for international students this semester. Increasing delays in the processing of visa requests could affect international students enrolled in universities across Canada and Quebec.
Foreign Service Officers: a Strike of Special Concern for International Students
July 30th, 2013 | Julien Benoît | Political Attaché
Source: Passport Canada
Since April, the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO) has been conducting a strike, a consequence of an ongoing conflict with its employer, the Government of Canada. This conflict, which has lasted for several months now, results from a deadlock of the collective bargaining procedures, the actual collective agreement having expired in 2011.
In protest, the foreign diplomats and their trade union decided to cease their activities in fifteen of Canada’s most important visas delivering centres worldwide. These visa delivering centres include: Abu Dhabi, Ankara, Beijing, Le Caire, Delhi/Chandigarh, Hong Kong, London, Manille, Mexico, Moscow, Paris, Riyadh, Sao Paulo and Shanghai. As of Monday, July 29, 2013, it was impossible to be received in any of these centers. According to the PAFSO, the processing of all visas requests has decreased by more than 65% in some of the main centres.
In total, about four hundred Officers working in Ottawa and one hundred of their foreign colleagues are taking part of the protest. In brief, they are requesting a salary equal to the salary of their federal colleagues doing a similar job. According to Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board of Canada and Minister responsible for collective bargaining, this is an unreasonable comparison.
After the ultimatum given by PAFSO, which requested an arbitration process, the Government publicly accepted, before requiring six preconditions to the arbitration. PAFSO later rejected the conditions, accusing the Government of negotiating in bad faith. The Government still considers its offer “fair and reasonable for Canadian taxpayers”.
Consequences for international students
This situation could have significant impact for international students. The increasing delays in the processing of visa requests could affect international students enrolled in a Canadian university for this fall, a constantly increasing number, of which, one-fifth are currently studying in Quebec. At McGill University, international students represent more than 20% of the student clientele, or a little more than 8,000 students.
Peter Halpin, Director of the Association of Atlantic Universities (AAU), is afraid that such a scenario encourages international students to reconsider their decision to study in Quebec and Canada. Furthermore, according to an article published last week in LaPresse and Radio-Canada, this kind of strike or protest would have already reduced, “the number of international students considering coming to the country because of delays in the processing of visas requests.”
International students not only contribute to our cultural diversity, but they also represent an important source of income for Canadian universities and the economy. In 2008, their contribution to the Canadian economy was approximately 4.1 billion dollars. They also contributed to the creation of more than 64,000 jobs, which represents about 5.5 % of all jobs in the educational services labour market. According to the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC), the cost of the current situation could reach nearly 280 million dollars for this summer alone.
Is a Conflict Settlement coming soon?
Tony Clement declared on Friday that the Government “will continue to bargain in good faith and welcome constructive efforts to reach a timely and reasonable settlement that fully restores the diplomatic, consular and other services Canadians pay for and expect”. The minister then added that “in the meantime, [he will] continue to take steps to ensure the timely processing of visas [and] to welcome visitors and international students to experience Canada.” PAFSO says, however, “they are willing to maintain their strike during the entire summer and until fall, if necessary”.
Hopefully, the strike will end before the beginning of the next semester. Unfortunately, the actual context does not consider a settlement of the conflict in the near future. On July 30, 2013, the Canadian Foreign Service Officers in Ottawa held a mass picket outside the Prime Minister’s Office, “to show their profound disappointment at the Government’s refusal to enter into binding arbitration to resolve this labour dispute,” according to the press release issued July 30th by PAFSO.
