Some services and staff under the visa and immigration section at the Canadian Consulate office in Detroit are being eliminated — a move that could have a negative effect on the Windsor area, says MP Brian Masse (NDP — Windsor West).
Canada’s Consul General Roy Norton — who has been leading the fight to build a new Windsor-Detroit bridge — said other services provided at the consulate are not affected by the decision.
But processing temporary resident and work visas is being moved back to Ottawa. The immigration section handles applications for visas from people from foreign countries who are in the U.S. and want to come to Canada. The government will accept applications online, process them in Ottawa and send them back electronically, Norton said. About 15 to 16 staff work in the immigration section and will be laid off by the end of March. Some are Canadians who live in Windsor.
That could mean longer wait times and files being lost, Masse said.
“The Harper government is continuing to cut front-line services in communities where they are needed most,” he said. ” The Windsor-Detroit region is a settlement destination for people coming from all parts of the globe and one of the busiest international border crossings in the world.
“Removing the services offered out of the consulate in this region particularly is short-sighted and ignores the incredible diversity in this region on both sides of the border. Residents and businesses will be negatively impacted.”
This is the second round of cuts at Canadian consulates in the U.S. The total staff at the consulate in Detroit will number 19 or 20 by the end of March, half what it was two years ago but about the same as other consulates in cities like Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle and Denver.
