As Canada Post strike continues, 85K passports are stuck in the mail

Tens of thousands of passports are stuck waiting to beryllium mailed arsenic a nationwide Canada Post onslaught continues.

Employment and Social Development Canada told Global News that arsenic of Tuesday, astir 85,000 passports that were printed and acceptable to beryllium mailed are being held by Service Canada.

“In anticipation of a imaginable labour disruption, Service Canada enactment a impermanent clasp connected mailing retired passport packages aft November 8, 2024,” Maja Stefanovska, an ESDC spokesperson, said.

“By holding residential message respective days successful beforehand of a enactment stoppage, Service Canada has reduced the hazard of having immoderate passports held successful Canada Post organisation centres.”

Passports volition beryllium mailed retired erstwhile the onslaught ends and regular message work resumes.

More than 55,000 Canada Post workers went connected onslaught Friday, halting message and parcel services crossed the country. Some station offices person besides been shuttered amid the occupation action.

The Crown corp and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers are holding talks this week with a peculiar mediator, appointed by the national government.

A Canada Post spokesperson told The Canadian Press connected Tuesday that the 2 sides were capable to marque “some progress” connected smaller issues, but “there’s inactive a batch of crushed to cover.”

The national is calling for a cumulative wage hike of 24 per cent implicit 4 years, portion Canada Post has offered an 11.5 per cent increase.

Other sticking points see occupation security, benefits and declaration enactment for parcel transportation connected weekends.

The postal strike, present its seventh day, is negatively impacting tiny businesses, charities and distant communities, Canada Post says.

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Service Canada has warned that message correspondence from immoderate programs and services whitethorn beryllium impacted owed to the Canada Post strike. This includes the passport program, employment security benefits, apprenticeship grants and societal security numbers sent via mail.

“Canadians who person applied for a caller passport and chose to get it by message volition person it sent to them arsenic soon arsenic message work resumes,” Service Canada says connected its website

Those who are successful urgent request of their passport tin contact the Passport Program astatine 1-800-567-6868 oregon sojourn a Service Canada centre and petition to person their passport transferred to a determination that offers pickup service.

“Canadians who volition beryllium travelling successful the adjacent 6 weeks should use for their passport arsenic aboriginal arsenic imaginable astatine a Service Canada constituent of work that offers 10-business time work to debar immoderate delays by mail,” Service Canada says.

Anyone travelling aft much than six weeks tin taxable their exertion by courier oregon successful idiosyncratic astatine a Service Canada determination offering 20 business-day service.

“If a lawsuit mailed their passport exertion conscionable anterior to the commencement of the Canada Post labour dispute, it’s imaginable that Service Canada has not received the application,” ESDC’s Stefanovska said.

“In these cases, we volition not beryllium capable to process the exertion until message work resumes.”

— with files from The Canadian Press