Citizenship case processing centre in Vegreville officially closed

2018/09/04 Leave a comment

Of note. Originally located in Vegreville under the Mulroney government under which, if memory serves me correctly, former deputy prime minister Don Mazankowski pressed for its location in his riding (Liberal governments also located processing centres in rural areas):

The federal government’s Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Case Processing Centre (CPC) in Vegreville, Alta. officially closed its doors on Friday.

The centre has been the subject of a contentious debate since the closure was announced by the federal Liberals in 2016.

“It was an array of mixed emotions,” said Michelle Henderson, union vice-president of Customs Employment and Immigration.

“We’ve had people that have been there for 24 years and worked there their whole career. It’s not just about closing an office and relocating it; it’s about almost losing parts of your family because you’re all so close.”

Employees marked their final week with an appreciation BBQ hosted by the town on Wednesday.

About 200 people worked at the document-processing centre at the time it was closed.

When the government announced the closure, it said the centre would be moved to Edmonton to improve access.

“Basically, anybody who was employed at the office in Vegreville was offered their job in Edmonton,” Henderson said, adding some staff retired, took other jobs or moved out of the province.

“(The government) still went forward with the relocation,” Henderson said. “I would love to see the department realize they could have a smaller satellite office in Vegreville, which is what we’ve been pushing for right from the beginning. We’ve pushed for telework and we’ve pushed for a satellite office.

“The type of work that we do, we don’t see anybody. We were set up there as a mail and processing centre only… Where we’re physically located was, as far as I’m concerned, a moot point.”

The community of Vegreville has a population of about 5,000 and is located about 100 kilometres east of Edmonton. In May 2017, the mayor said the move to Edmonton could cost the town more than seven per cent of its population.

John McCallum, the federal immigration minister at the time said his department had a made a strong business case for the relocation.

“The government inherited a completely broken immigration system, so our priority has to be to improve service, to reduce processing time, and to spend taxpayers’ money wisely,” McCallum told the House of Commons November 2016.

McCallum also sent a letter to Shannon Stubbs, the Conservative MP who represents voters in Vegreville, in which he wrote, “The relocation will also save money as the new office space will be located within the Government of Canada’s existing property inventory.”

According to the most recent data held by Statistics Canada, about 75 per cent of the federal government’s 315,500 employees work in large urban centres like Toronto or Montreal.  About one-third of those or 135,900 work in the Ottawa—Gatineau region.

Henderson said the union heard Thursday it had won a grievance against the employer.

“Union filed a policy grievance basically saying the employer didn’t respect our collective agreement.”

Henderson said the union representative in Ottawa will work with the employer over the next 60 days or so to decide what steps should be taken now.

Source: Citizenship case processing centre in Vegreville officially closed

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Conservative MP seizes agenda from immigration minister at committee [over Vegreville closing]

2016/12/08 Leave a comment

I can understand the Conservative MP Shannon Stubb’s anger over the closing and the impact on Vegreville, which would be comparable if IRCC decided to shut down the Sydney citizenship processing centre on efficiency grounds.

However, interesting that the Conservatives chose to focus almost exclusively on this issue rather than challenging the immigration levels plan, both in terms of the overall increase to 300,000 as well as the break down between categories. But perhaps, all politics is local…:

Immigration Minister John McCallum appeared before a House of Commons committee Tuesday to answer questions on Canada’s plan to bring in 300,000 immigrants and refugees next year, but his time was cut short by a Conservative MP whose Alberta riding stands to lose 280 jobs due to a federal office closure.

MP Shannon Stubbs took the floor for more than an hour to read letters from residents about the impact of the planned closure of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s case processing centre in Vegreville, Alta.

Stubbs told McCallum she wanted an economic impact analysis of the decision that she said would be “complete devastation” for the town of 5,800. She broke down in tears as she read statements from employees, businesses and local residents who said it would ravage the local economy, sports teams and charities.

Stubbs added she was advocating for the community that is enduring “extreme anxiety and escalating stress.”

She said the closure, announced in October, is the equivalent of the loss of 290,000 jobs in Toronto. It would have a dramatic effect on the community’s youth, who look to the office as a future employer and an entry into the civil service.

“The impact on our youth population will be felt on locals schools, with up to 25 per cent of Vegreville students possibly having to leave our schools to relocate with their families,” she read from one letter.

Her office has received about 100 letters and more than 200 phone calls on the issue, she said.

McCallum defended the decision to move the centre to Edmonton, about 100 kilometres away, saying it would improve efficiency. He said the lease on the Vegreville building was up and that certain job vacancies were not being filled.

“It was felt there would be a much stronger performance in Edmonton and hence the decision was made,” he said.

Source: Conservative MP seizes agenda from immigration minister at committee – Politics – CBC News

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‘High error rate’ found in Canada’s immigration processing

2015/01/07 Leave a comment

Hard to know how many of these errors were major, but they do create processing inefficiencies not to mention the additional burden and frustration on applicants:

According to the review of 996 files handled between Nov. 1 and Dec. 6, 2014, at the Vegreville operation, which deals with permanent residence applications, the quality management team found these shortcomings in the 617 request letters sent:

  • 13 per cent did not address all missing items.
  • 23 per cent had no timeline or an incomplete one or did not mention the consequences of failing to reply.
  • 6 per cent were either “not professional” or chose the incorrect template form.

Of 426 files that received a second review during the five weeks, decisions were pending for 149 owing to errors made by decision-makers at an earlier stage.

While the 2013 review of the Canadian Experience Class — a pathway for those with Canadian work experience and education to obtain permanent residence — found 23 per cent of the decisions had “significant” eligibility concerns, the evaluation of refugee permit applications identified 113 errors in 88 files.

‘High error rate’ found in Canada’s immigration processing | Toronto Star.

And the subsequent story, with CIC’s response:

“Employees receive an initial three-day training on the department’s Global Case Management System, but there is additional training and coaching that takes place depending on the line of business,” wrote Chan.
“Before any employee begins to make any application decision, they receive comprehensive training on eligibility and admissibility assessments.”
Chan said immigration officials conduct quality monitoring exercises regularly to evaluate programs and procedures and adjust staff training accordingly.
“CIC is focused on making our application processes and our correspondence with clients simpler and clearer,” said Chan. “The integrity of these programs was not compromised.”

Ottawa defends errors in immigration processing

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