Union May File Formal Complaint Against Federal Department for Dropping Mask Mandate Without Consultation

Families, Children, and Social Development Minister Karina Gould stands during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Oct. 17, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

The Canada Employment and Immigration Union (CEIU) may be filing a formal labour-code complaint against a federal department on the grounds that it was not consulted before the mask requirement for in-person visitors to Service Canada locations was recently dropped.

Social Development Minister Karina Gould told a parliamentary committee on Feb. 14 that the mandate has been dropped.

“My understanding is masks now are encouraged but are not required,” Gould told the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, adding that the decision to drop the mandate was made in “a very recent policy change.”

Social Development Deputy Minister Jean-François Tremblay told the committee that the policy change decision was made by the federal Treasury Board on Feb. 10.

Crystal Warner, the national executive vice president of CEIU, says that the union had recently been assured by senior management of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) that the mask mandate would stay in place, adding that the union wasn’t informed of the recent decision.

“We’re looking at our options for formal complaints,” Warner said in an interview.

Warner also said in a letter sent to Gould and Tremblay on Feb. 16 that the union expects the removal of the mask mandate to be postponed.

ESDC said it is “currently evaluating whether any changes are needed” to Service Canada’s health and safety policies.

“For the time being, existing practices remain in place,” an ESDC spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email. “In the meantime, employees will continue to wear a medical mask when entering, leaving and moving about the workplace.”

Health Canada announced in May 2022 that federal mask mandates were lifted for public servants, while cabinet suspended enforcement of its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements in October.

All provinces dropped their mask mandates last year.