Civil servants' strike: delays to expect for your tax refund
Canada Revenue Agency offices in Montreal
Notice to those who who have not yet filed their income tax return or who have recently filed it: the payment of certain benefits and tax refunds from the federal government will be delayed due to the strike by federal civil servants. The Canadian government also specifies that the population should generally “expect that certain services will be delayed or not be provided”.
In addition to taxes, Service Canada will also reduce its services, which which will have an impact on passport applications. These will take longer to process. Foreign residents of Canada will also be affected by this walkout since there will be longer delays in processing applications to obtain a worker or student visa in the country.
However, Ottawa points out that some federal services are considered essential services, including Employment Insurance, Canada Pension Plan, Veterans Income Support, Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement. All citizens who receive benefits from one of these services will continue to receive them despite the strike.
Recall that 155,000 employees belonging to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC ) have been on an indefinite general strike since midnight Tuesday as they failed to reach an agreement with the Canadian government. They have planned many pickets across the country.
