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.

The Epoch Times contacted ESDC for comment on the matter but did not hear back before press time.

Service Canada’s website is yet to reflect Gould and Tremblay’s comments that its mask mandate has been dropped.

“Wear a face mask,” says the website. “Service Canada is a federal service provider. As such, we continue to ask all clients and visitors to wear a face mask. This applies even in areas where provincial or territorial requirements differ.”

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.