Speakers Corner: Workers and employers want changes to work visa delays
Posted August 18, 2021 10:11 pm.
Speakers Corner is back! CityNews wants to hear from you. We’ve been asking you to send us interesting stories, videos or questions you want answered. The Queen Street booth maybe a thing of the past, but we’re still listening and want to hear what’s on your mind.
This week a growing list of people are speaking out about work visas that were not renewed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many say the issue is having a ripple effect on businesses and the economy.
“He was a hardworking stylist, clients loved him. And then he was gone,” said Violet Volovik, owner of Bob and Paige Salon in Toronto.
Volovik is talking about hair stylist Noel Smith, who was here in Canada on a work visa. After an extension of a few months, it was not renewed back in October of 2020 forcing him to return to his home country of Ireland.
“You really feel the impact when you lose someone like that,” Volovik said.
Smith spoke with CityNews from his home in Belfast. He and his partner both had work visas and were working to get enough points to apply for permanent residency. But that all changed when they were informed their work visas were not being renewed.
“We had received an email from immigration to say our visas expired, they stopped processing applications and we need to leave the country.”
The couple had to abruptly quit their jobs, break their lease at the apartment they were renting and return home.
“It was very frustrating. We had no place to live in Belfast and no jobs there, our lives were completely rattled.” Smith said.
As CityNews has reported, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (I.R.C.C.) has not been able to process applications as quickly as normal due to the pandemic.
“I believe our visas would have been able to process when we applied for an extension if COVID wasn’t a thing,” Smith said. “They would have gone through with no issues.”
Smith is hoping to reapply but says due to immigration backlogs, he’s had a long wait.
“Right now, we haven’t heard anything. We have no information when the candidate phase will re-open and when they will start accepting the applications. There is just a lack of communication. Not to say they’re not doing their jobs, but the communication is not there at all.”
Smith and others have now started an online petition — signed by more than 13 thousand people — which, among other things, calls on I.R.C.C. to extend work visas for those who did not get renewed because of COVID delays.
“I hope for the opportunity to come back. I’m not expecting everything on a silver platter, given permanent residency. We’re more than willing to make sacrifices and do what we need to do to come back.”
A spokesperson for I.R.C.C. did not say whether people like Smith will get any special consideration for COVID delays but they can reapply.
“If a participant has left Canada and their work permit has expired in the interim, they can check our website to determine their eligibility if they wish to participate again.”
Smith is in the process of doing that but still feels I.R.C.C. should do more.
“We’re not just numbers, we’re people. Behind every statistic, there’s a story. And it’s not just us that this has affected. It has a knock down affect to employers and landlords and it really ripples through the economy,” Smith said.
Employers, like Smith’s former boss, agree.
“You have to look at the situation and look at the impact that person has on the industry and on the culture of a place. Losing someone like this takes away from a small business like mine that has already been impacted by this pandemic so much,” Volovik said.
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