Immigration Canada probing claims of systemic racism at two offices, union says

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is investigating claims of systemic racismat two of its offices, says the union representing its employees.

Meanwhile,the department has hired an outside company,Charron Human Resources, to conduct a workplace audit at IRCC'scall centre in Montreal the department's only Canadian call centre where employees have been working to fulfil the federal government's commitmentto bring in 40,000 refugees fromAfghanistan.

The Canada Employment and Immigration Union(CEIU) which represents employees at IRCC,Service Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), and the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) says the IRCC's internal racism probes stemfrom complaintsfiled by employees.

The news comes afterthe IRCC released a damning report late last year.That reportcitedemployees complaining ofrepeated instances of staff and supervisors using offensive terms with racialized colleagues, and of limited opportunities for advancement for racialized minorities.

"We are going to be proving that there is a national problem at the IRCC across the workplace," said Crystal Warner, the CEIU's national executive vice-president.

"IRCC is committed and believes in creatinga workplace free from racism, harassment, discrimination and marginalization of any kind," the department said in a statement, adding it could not comment on the probesdue to confidentiality issues.

The union said workplace issues at the Montreal call centre the subject ofCharron Human Resources' workplace audit go back years but have been aggravated by Canada's daunting commitment to bring in 40,000 Afghans after the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

"[Staff] are telling us that all the new employees that are getting hired are leaving within a few months because of the pressure to produce, to stay on the call and take the next call," Warner said.

"You could be on the phone and you could hear someone telling you about a sibling being beheaded or a relative that had been raped and all these horrible situations," she said, addingemployees aren't permitted to take a moment to decompress before taking the next call.

The investigations came as little surprise to two federal civil servants who, fearing workplace reprisals,spoke to CBC News on the condition they not be named.

One staffer who is Black startedher career at the IRCC call centre in Montreal in 2017and now works in a different federal department.

Pressure to produce

She describedan office of overworked staffconstantly being monitoredby management where the pressure to field as many calls as possible affected everything,even bathroom breaks.

"If you took more than the allotted surplus time that you had in order to do your bodily functions, you would get an email saying, 'You're really off your stats today, what's going on?'" shesaid.

"Am I supposed to ask like in a kindergarten? Raise my hand and say, 'Ma'am, can I please go to the bathroom?'"

She reported racist attitudes toward immigration applicants from certain countries particularly thosefrom Cuba and Nigeria.

"That came from the top, how we were instructed to deal with people from certain countries," she said. "There was a lot of stereotyping going on ... 'People from this country, people from that country, they're all liars, you know?'"

The report the IRCC released last Octoberspoke of employees referring to a group of 30 African countries as the "dirty 30."

'Plebeian tasks' left to people of colour, staffer says

The unnamed staffer also said there were few career advancement opportunities at the call centrefor people of colour.

"The plebeian tasks were left to the people of obvious ethnic background and the higher-ups were homogeneous in their colour and culture," she said.

The second employee who spoke to CBC who is also Black startedhis career at the call centre in Montreal in 1998 and now works as an immigration officer.

He said henoticed a reluctance to promote employees of colour within the department over the years. He said he went through about a dozen applications before hegot a promotion.

"They would find ways to tell me,'You're not qualified, come and we'll discuss about the failure and we'll tell you exactly what to do next,'" he said.

Farahldine Boisclair, director of the IRCC's anti-racism task force, admitted the department has a lot of work to do.

"Racism is a factor in Canadian life," Boisclair said.

The department created her position and the task force after George Floyd's death at the hands ofMinneapolis policein 2020 triggered widespread protests against police violence targetingpeople of colour.

She said the department has been working hard tostampout workplace racismthrough training for managers. She said IRCC has introducedprogramsto help emerging talent from racialized minority groups move up the ranks.

"The higher you move up, the less diverse it gets at the top," she said. "What we're trying to do is really empower employees to share their experiences with us, in whatever fashion."

In a letter sent to CBC News after the initial story's publication, IRCC executives stressed the importance of some of the anti-racism initiatives it has undertaken, and added it is mindful of the stress on employees trying to address the two Afghanistan and Ukraine refugee crises.

"This work can take an emotional toll. We feel strongly that supportingemployeemental health and fostering a healthy workplace is paramount in what we do to helpthemdo their jobs," reads the letterco-signed by deputy minister Catrina Tapley, and associate deputy ministers Caroline Xavier and Scott Jones.

"We have systems in place to ensure that staff feel safe and encouraged toreach out for help when they need it."

External audit expands scope

According to emails seen by CBC News, the scope of Charron'saudit expanded over the pasttwo months.

A message sent to staff by Charron on Jan.6explaining the nature of the auditwas limited to employeeswho had lodged workplace complaints, asidentified by an IRCC director-general.

A second email, dated Feb.7, went to everyone at the call centre. Like the first, it promised to keep all information confidentialand suggested interview dates for later in the month.

Charron did not return requests for comment.

The CEIU said it has little faith in the department'sinternal processes or its impartiality.

"It's like you're your own judge and jury,"Warner said, adding that as a result, many staff choose not to report individual complaints. "If your complaint is founded, you basically get an email saying, 'We agree that you have been harassed.'"

The union says it intends to file a collective grievance about workplace discrimination and harassment.

It said it has more faith in the external audit performed by Charron since it's a third party.