08/09/2021
Canada Border Services Agency employees ended their work-slowdown late Friday after their unions reached a tentative agreement with the Canadian government.

Traffic at the UA-Canada border crossings should return to normal during today and no further interruptions or delays are expected.

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08/06/2021

The work-slowdown action taken by Canadian Border Services Agency staff has led to delays at border-crossing points that ranged from 15-90 minutes, with delays of 55 minutes and more at the Ambassador bridge, the busiest commercial crossing point between the US and Canada.

The delays seen so far can be considered mild and delays will most likely increase if the ongoing labor negotiations do not yield results.

We will monitor the situation and update it as soon as there is any development.

Please contact your V. Alexander Account Team about any cargo that might be impacted by this situation so that we can work on solutions for your supply chain needs.

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08/05/2021
The Public Service Alliance of Canada and its Customs and Immigration Union announced that unless an agreement on a new labor contract is reached nearly 9,000 Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) staff will start a “work-to-rule strike” on Friday at 6 am.

Although this labor action is not a full strike but more of a work slowdown, the impact would be felt at all Canadian ports of entry, impacting everything from container port and airport operations to cross-border trucking.

The union stated that “During work-to-rule strike action, CBSA employees will obey all of the policies, procedures and laws applying to their work, and perform their duties to ’the letter of the law. This may cause long and unavoidable delays at Canada’s borders as workers carry out their jobs as they were trained to do.”

The work action comes as the union and the workers’ employer, the Treasury Board of Canada, will resume labor contract negotiations on Friday.

Ocean and air carriers already warn that the situation could result in slowdown that would certainly impact supply chains, especially in view of the unprecedented volumes that currently also hit Canadian ports.

We will monitor the situation and update it as soon as there is any development.

Please contact your V. Alexander Account Team about any cargo that might be impacted by this situation so that we can work on solutions for your supply chain needs.