Under the theme ‘Resilience,’ the CEIU 2025 National IRCC Conference was called to order by Shauna-Lee Dupuis, the National Vice-President (NVP) for IRCC and the Chair of the CEIU National IRCC Advisory Committee.

Participants were welcomed in Toronto, May 5-7, on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississauga’s of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples in a city that is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.

State of the union

The CEIU National President, Rubina Boucher provided some opening words, and shared the State of the Union with the National Executive Vice-President, Helen King, providing participants updates on what’s happening at CEIU:

• Operations
• Modernization and stepping into 2025
• Membership and strengthening relationships with other components of the PSAC and different campaigns
• Workforce Adjustment (WFA) & term non-renewals
• Bargaining, issue prioritization and presentation of demands, and meeting the three (3) CEIU members on the PA bargaining team: Charito Humphreys, Missy Taylor, and Francesca Dorvilier

Getting involved union organizing around IRCC

The State of the Union address was followed by a panel consisting of some of the National IRCC Advisory Committee representatives who provided information on how they first became involved in the union as well as the realities of WFA and term reductions. The panel consisted of the following IRCC representatives:

• Norlyne Chery, committee alternate representative, Quebec
• Bridgit Dorge, committee representative, Manitoba/Saskatchewan
• Vesna Lukic, committee representative, National Capital Region
• Aaron Chang, committee representative, British Columbia and Yukon
• Dhaval Shaw, committee representative, Ontario

Training was also provided in the afternoon session on the first day of the conference.

Bargaining update and PSAC National President

The second day of the conference started with the three (3) CEIU members of the PA Bargaining Team answering questions from the floor.

The PSAC National President, Sharon DeSousa, joined the conference by Zoom to address participants and talked of the impact of the cuts at IRCC and added that she was looking forward to having other discussions with the Prime Minister to discuss that now is not the time for cuts, at IRCC or in the other departments. 

She added that PSAC will continue to advocate on how these cuts will affect the Canadian public and how there is division in this government, within the two parties.

DeSousa said the union still has a lot of work in front of us and that we must continue this work and fight and make the newly elected MPs aware of our issues.

Resolutions and resilience

The delegates debated and voted on adopting three (3) resolutions that will now be brought to the CEIU National Convention in September 2026 for debate.

The conference provided members the chance to voice their frustrations as they are navigating ongoing job cuts at IRCC. As someone stated in a social media post, this conference was a powerful reminder that the union must step up to support all members, and that we gain strength by working together.

This year’s theme ‘Resilience’ is about being adaptable, flexible, and bouncing back from difficult experiences and decisions. Only by working together will we be stronger.