Each May, we recognize Asian Heritage Month, a time to reflect on the contributions and struggles of Asian people in Canada.

From April 6-13, CEIU members voted for the National Vice Presidents who were not elected by acclamation.

Picket lines will go up across the country April 19 as more than 155,000 Public Service Alliance of Canada members working for Treasury Board and Canada Revenue Agency begin strike action.  

The CEIU National Executive (NE) met in Ottawa from February 7^th to 10^th, 2023 with the By-Laws and the Finance Committee meeting on February 6^th to prepare their committee reports.

Every year on March 8, we recognize International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate women’s contributions and recommit to the fight for equity and justice.

February is the month dedicated to celebrating the many achievements and contributions of Black Canadians and their communities who, throughout history, have done so much to make Canada the culturally diverse, compassionate, and prosperous nation it is today. 

Nominations for the fifteen National Vice President positions closed at 9:00 p.m. on January 20, 2023.

Each year, the CEIU NB/PEI offers financial assistance to members and their dependents to pursue higher education. 

Dear members,

The announcement made by Treasury Board has a lot of our members email us and expressing their concerns, and we at the Canada Employment and Immigration Union (CEIU), are taking a stand.

"Where, after all do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home -- so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world." Eleanor Roosevelt

“Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living” – Mother Jones

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) is a UN day recognized annually on December 3.

For several years, CEIU/PSAC members have complained about the government’s lack of strategic planning to address the backlog of cases.

On Monday, October 31^st, the Ford administration imposed a bill that restricts the rights of education workers. By implementing a collective agreement that does not consider the current socio-economic changes, the government is violating workers’ constitutional rights to bargain fairly.

CEIU/PSAC members working for the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), have complained for several years regarding the deterioration of their working conditions. 

We are pleased to announce that the 2023 CEIU National IRCC Conference will be held from February 25 to 26, 2023 at the Hotel Halifax at 1990 Barrington Street, in Halifax, N.S.

The CEIU National Women’s Committee is pleased to announce that the 2023 CEIU National Women’s Conference will be held from March 4^th to 5^th, 2023 at the Inn at Laurel Point in Victoria, B.C. under the theme Advocating for Women in the Future of Work!

As per the Canada Employment and Immigration Union (CEIU) Policy 31, we are pleased to offer up to five (5) $5,000.00 National Scholarships to CEIU members in good standing, their spouse, their common-law spouse (including same sex partners) and/or their dependant(s).

This year, CEIU received a total of 38 applications from across the country.        

PSAC/CEIU members gathered outside Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen’s office in Kingston yesterday, October 5^th, 2022.

The last few days have been critical for many Canadians. Among those affected are many of our members who have lost power, water, and, in some cases, their homes due to Hurricane Fiona.  Our sincerest condolences go out to those impacted.

The CEIU National Executive (NE) passed a motion to create a one-time strike fund to support every member of our union who participates in strike action during this round of collective bargaining.

On August 16^th, 2022, the Canada Employment and Immigration Union (CEIU) met with the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould. Held in Toronto, the meeting was an opportunity for CEIU to discuss the ongoing concerns regarding Service Canada centres.

Every year, CEIU Manitoba-Saskatchewan Region award a scholarship for up to six students who are CEIU members, their spouses or their dependents. Applicants write short statements on the contributions of the labour movement and the value of public services.

We are writing to our locals to provide an update on the steps that the CEIU National Office has been taking to help address our member’s concerns regarding the ongoing situation in the Service Canada Centres resulting from passport delays.

Since the last update was posted on our site in December 2021, CEIU has held three meetings with the ESDC Labour Relations team, on January 18, April 7 and June 16, 2022, to monitor the files being processing. Here are the highlights of those meetings: 

A call for nominations for the position of Alternate National Vice-President for Human Rights is being sent to all respective CEIU members in good standing who has self-identified with CEIU and for which CEIU has a personal email address.

June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada. On this day, we celebrate Indigenous history, culture, and diversity, as well as the many contributions made by Indigenous peoples to Canada. It is also an opportunity for non-Indigenous Canadians to reflect on their history and role in the ongoing process of colonization in Canada. In addition, this is a time when we need to reaffirm our commitment to working in solidarity with Indigenous movements for justice.

Pride Month is a recognition of the hard-fought gains won by the 2SLGBTQIA+ community from the 1960s until the present day. The significance of June as the chosen month for Pride stems from the 1969 Stonewall Riots that took place that month in New York.

A call for nominations for three (3) positions of Alternate National Vice-Presidents is being sent to all respective CEIU members in good standing for which CEIU has a personal email address who work for IRB or who are from the NCR.

The three (3) available positions are as follows:

-Alternate NVP for IRB

-2^nd Alternate NVP for NCR

-3^rd Alternate NVP for NCR

As Canadians’ frustration surges by having to cancel trips as they wait for passports, even more citizens are being impacted by the mismanagement at Service Canada offices across the country.

The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia is a worldwide celebration of sexual and gender diversity. It is a day meant to draw attention to the violence and discrimination faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex people, and all other people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions, and sex characteristics.

CEIU is once again pleased to be offering National Scholarships to CEIU members in good standing, their spouse, their common-law partner, and/or their dependant(s). The scholarships are offered from the “royalties” CEIU receives from The Personal Insurance as well as the BMO CEIU Master Card, from the business they both receive from CEIU members. 

May is Asian Heritage Month in Canada. The history of Asian immigration in Canada can be traced back to more than 150 years ago when Chinese workers arrived on the west coast to build the Pacific Railway. In 2002, as a result of a motion proposed by the first Senator of Asian descent, Vivienne Poy, the Government of Canada signed an official declaration to designate May as Asian Heritage Month.

The CEIU National Standing Human Rights/Race Relations (HR/RR) Committee is pleased to announce that the 2022 CEIU National HR/RR Conference will be held from September 24th to 25^th, 2022 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver, B.C. under the theme Be the Change!  Registration and a meet and greet will be held starting at 6 p.m. (BC time) on September 23^rd, 2022.

The CEIU National Executive met in-person as well as hybrid for their Spring meeting, from April 5^th, to 9^th, 2022 at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa, Ontario.

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that CEIU would like to inform you of the passing of Jacques Perrin, CEIU National Vice-President for the NCR. 

The CEIU National Human Rights/Race Relations (HR/RR) Committee held their meeting in Toronto from March 25^th to 27^th, 2022. A pleasant change to have all the representatives attend in-person at this meeting, after having had only virtual zoom meetings since after the 2021 CEIU Convention.

On October 26, 1966, the United Nations proclaimed March 21 as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to be commemorated yearly. On that day in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid “pass laws”.

The National Women’s Committee and the two National Vice Presidents for Women Issues, Jodi MacPherson and Lynda MacLellan would like to invite all CEIU members who identify as women to join us to celebrate International Women's Day

If you are a CEIU member in good standing, and we have your personal email address in our database, you will be receiving an email around 9 a.m. (EST) on February 23^rd, 2022 to vote for one of the four (4) candidates as your 2^nd Alternate National Vice-President for the Quebec Region.

This communique is being sent to you as a member of the Canada Employment and Immigration Union (CEIU), a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

At the December 2021 CEIU National Executive meeting, a number of National Vice-Presidents raised concerns with harassment that they have been dealing with from some of their members.

This year marks the 26^th anniversary of Black History Month in Canada. 2022 is also within the International Decade for People of African Decent (2015- 2024).

A call for nominations for the position of 2^nd Alternate National Vice-President for Quebec is being sent to all CEIU members from that region that are in good standing for which CEIU has a personal email address.

The CEIU National Human Rights/Race Relations (HR/RR) Committee held a virtual meeting on January 13^th and 14^th, 2022.

This year, CEIU received a total of 24 applications from across the country. The National Executive approved the following candidates to receive a $2,000 CEIU National Scholarship:

A call for nominations for the position of Alternate National Vice-President for NB/PEI is being sent to all CEIU members from those regions that are in good standing for which CEIU has a personal email address.

The CEIU National Executive met for their Fall meeting, from December 8 to 13^th, 2021. This was the first meeting with the new National Executive who took office at the end of the 2021 CEIU Convention back on August 20^th, 2021.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ag-foreign-farm-workers-pandemic-1.6279572

CEIU has written to the CBC in response to the above noted article and invited them to speak with us. CEIU has raised concerns over the past two years to senior management regarding a lack of health and safety equipment for our inspectors, a lack of security protocols, and ever shifting mandates and priorities leaving our members feeling unsupported and set up for failure in the execution of their work.

During the December meeting of the CEIU National Executive, it was unanimously agreed that $50,000 will be donated to the BC flood efforts. CEIU will donate the money directly to the PSAC Social Justice Funds to be used for the BC floods support funds.

Let's stand up for equality, justice and human dignity.

"All Human, All Equal" is this year's slogan for Human Rights Day.’’

‘’Where, after all do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home -- so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. [...] Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world." Eleanor Roosevelt

More than 30 years ago (December 6, 1989), 14 young women at Polytechnique Montréal were murdered – simply because they were women. Still in 2021, approximately every six days, a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner, and many more women and gender diverse people face violence regularly.

Since the last update was posted on our site in September 2021, CEIU has held two meetings with the ESDC Labour Relations team on November 10, 2021, to monitor the file processing. Here are the highlights of these meetings:   

December 3, International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD), is a day to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities and to increase awareness of the barriers persons with disabilities face in all areas of society. The United Nations’ theme for this year is, “Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world.”

The Treasury Board Secretariat announced that claim compensation for severe impacts, a claims process for losses and damages related to the Phoenix pay system, is now available to PSAC members under the Phoenix damages agreement negotiated by PSAC in October 2020.

For more details, visit PSAC web site.

With more nominations received than seats allocated, elections are being held in three (3) different regions, to elect CEIU delegates to the 2022 PSAC Convention. These regions are:

• Alberta/NWT/Nunavut
• Ontario
• Quebec

PSAC and the Canada Employment and Immigration Union are dismayed by the lack of action to address racism and discrimination within Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

We’ve been receiving many questions from our members. You may find the PSAC statement and answers to frequently asked questions on the PSAC web site: Your rights at work: Vaccinations and COVID-19

Since the last update was posted on our site in June 2021, CEIU has held two meetings with the ESDC Labour Relations team on August 18 and June 21 and on September 21, 2021, to monitor the file processing. Here are the highlights of these meetings:   

CEIU leaders met today with the Deputy Minister and senior management of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and demanded answers and action, after a report on workplace racism was published in the media on September 23, 2021. The news article revealed details of an internal IRCC document at that contained shocking examples of racism within the department.

Each year, the federal government marks Gender Equality Week during the fourth week of September. It is a time to recognize the progress that women and gender diverse communities have made in advancing their rights, and it is also a time to recommit to the ongoing struggle for gender justice.

A call for nominations for four (4) positions of Alternate National Vice-Presidents is being sent to all respective CEIU members in good standing for which CEIU has a personal email address.

The 4^th day of Convention commenced with the President Bourque acknowledging, as a guest, Randy Howard, the President of the Government Services Union (GSU).

Delegates, observers, and guests were greeted, upon signing in to the virtual CEIU Convention platform on day three, to the sound of Solidarity Forever and the showing of the accomplishment video. 

The 2^nd day of the 15^th CEIU Convention started out with the showing of a video of CEIU’s accomplishments. 

To the singing of Solidarity Forever in the background, the video was played for the delegation.  After its showing, the National President’s words were, “Wow, what a fantastic video.  I hope that everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.”  He continued by thanking CEIU members for their participation and collaboration in helping CEIU achieve these accomplishments as well as thanking all the ones that had worked on the preparation of the video.

The first day of the rescheduled September 2020 CEIU National Convention started off with a powerful Aboriginal Opening.  This was followed by the CEIU National President, Eddy Bourque acknowledging the land on which he was gathering everyone as the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe People.

Every year, CEIU Manitoba-Saskatchewan Region award a scholarship for up to six students who are CEIU members, their spouses or their dependents. Applicants write short statements on the contributions of the labour movement and the value of public services.

Today, the Prime Minister confirmed that the federal public service will be considering a vaccination mandate for federal employees.

The Summer 2021 edition of CEIU's newsletter, From the Ground Up, is here!

CEIU members at the Immigration and Refugee Board have recently been concerned by media stories about their colleagues and racism in the workplace.

The first ever virtual CEIU National Convention is taking place August 13-20, 2021. We are sure many of you are excited and anxious for the start of the virtual CEIU National Convention, which will be a new experience for many of you. To assist you with your preparations, we have made available some of the Convention materials through the following links:

Current PSAC members working for the federal public service received general damages as part of their March 3 pay. However, several issues remain outstanding:

CEIU members stand in solidarity with Cowessess First Nation after the horrifying discovery of 751 unmarked graves from the Marieval Indian Residential School.

Since the last update was posted on our site in December 2020, CEIU has held three meetings with the ESDC Labour Relations team on May 19 and June 21 and on April 7, 2021, to monitor the file processing. Here are the highlights of these meetings:    

The Canada Employment and Immigration Union is pleased to be able to offer fifteen (15) $2,000.00 National Scholarships to CEIU members in good standing, their spouse, their common-law spouse (including same sex partners) and/or their dependant(s).

Further to the Convention Call sent out back in November 2019, this is a reminder that CEIU is calling for nominations for delegates to attend the 2022 PSAC National Triennial Convention which will be held in Winnipeg, Manitoba from May 28^th to June 2^nd,  2022. 

Are you a PSAC/CEIU member in good standing who works at IRB?  Your Union, the Canada Employment and Immigration Union, a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, just put out a Call for Nominations for the position of National Vice-President for IRB.

National Public Service Week is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the work of our members and colleagues across the federal government of Canada who, for the past year especially, have tirelessly done incredibly important work.

On June 6, a senseless attack on a Muslim family occurred in London Ontario, killing four and leaving a young child fighting for his life. This incident once again reminds us that Islamophobia and racism are real threats to our communities.

CEIU expresses the horror and chagrin of its members at the discovery of the remains of 215 children at the Kamloops Residential School, as well as its support for the Tk’emlups te Secwépemc First Nation whose people have been tragically marked by these deaths.

Ottawa, ON – The International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia is an important occasion to mark the long struggle against prejudice, discrimination and violence against LGBTQ people across the world. CEIU members stand in solidarity with that struggle.

Canada Employment and Immigration Union

15th National Convention

August 16-20, 2021

We are moving forward with our National Women’s Conference.

The conference will be held over three full days.

The Canada Employment and Immigration Union (CEIU) joins the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) in supporting the legal action taken on behalf of past and present federal public service workers who identify as Black, Caribbean or of African descent.

Since the last update was posted on our site in December 2020, CEIU has held three meetings with the ESDC Labour Relations team on February 4 and 25 and on April 7, 2021, to monitor the file processing. Here are the highlights of these meetings:   

The Canada Employment and Immigration Union is pleased to be able to offer fifteen (15) $2,000.00 National Scholarships to CEIU members in good standing, their spouse, their common-law spouse (including same sex partners) and/or their dependant(s).

Elections, where needed, are now all complete, and CEIU is happy to provide our membership with a list of the delegates that will be attending the 2021 CEIU Convention to represent them. 

The CEIU National Executive met for their Spring meeting, from March 17^th to 20^th, 2021.  As they have been doing since March of last year, once again this meeting was held virtually.   Even virtually, the National Executive has dealt with number of issues and adopted number of recommendations made by the Finance Committee and the By-Laws Resolutions Committee.

This year, the theme for International Women’s Day is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”.   International Women’s Day (IWD) is held every year on March 8^th.

The National Executive, at its February 22^nd, 2021 meeting passed a motion that the CEIU National Convention will be held virtually from August 16 to 20, 2021.  The three (3) Committees (Finance Resolutions Committee, By-Laws Resolutions Committee and General/PSAC Resolutions Committee) meetings will also be held virtually – those meetings are the week of May 17 to 21, 2021.

When it comes to mental health in federal workplaces, whether you are working from home or on site, every action counts—big or small. This is especially true in the context of COVID-19.