Tourism stakeholders across Canada are outraged after learning foreign travellers are being turned away from entering the country.
The Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) recently obtained an example of Canadian Embassy officials having told people, in writing, not to travel to Canada.
After ongoing job action has slowed down the process of issuing visitor visas at Canadian missions abroad, TIAC got its hands on a copy of a written response sent by Immigration Section at the Canadian Embassy in Bogota, Colombia.
TIAC says the document instructs those requesting Canadian visitor visas to take their business elsewhere.
Translated, the text of message from the Embassy apparently states: "for your information, Canadian External Service officials are presently on strike. All Canadian visa offices in the world are working with reduced capacity and the processing times of visa requests are uncertain for the moment. As such we recommend that you look at other options for your trip that do not include a stop in Canada."
Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association (CCCTA) president Pat Corbett says the problem has been "brewing away" for a couple of years, but worsened earlier this year.
"Our embassies and visa offices have not kept up with the demand to the point where they have actually been suggesting [people stay away]."
"It has impacted our industry, for sure, and with the strike full-on now, it's pretty catastrophic. It just compounds the difficulties in the Canadian tourism industry right now."
Corbett adds he has asked Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Cathy McLeod and others to try to "grab hold" of the issue and bring it to resolution.
"It's not good for the Canadian economy overall and its something that needs a solution rapidly."
TIAC wants to see an end to "stand-off tactics from both sides" and instead have public discussion of back-to-work legislation or allowances for replacement workers to process visa applications.
It estimates that the cost of the ongoing strike to the Canadian travel and tourism sector will be upwards of $280 million this year, and further losses in spin-off economic gains.
Corbett says the CCCTA has been watching the issue unfold for months now with "extreme concern" expressed across the regional industry.
He notes TIAC is the industry's "national advocacy voice" that got involved when it heard reports of problems with visa applications.
"It was the people on the ground that TIAC was responding to, and trying to deal with this behind the scenes with government, and that started some time ago."
Now, the CCCTA president says there are various senate members and cabinet ministers pursuing a resolution in Ottawa, including British Columbia's own Senator Nancy Greene Raine.
However, as concerns continue to escalate while the strike continues, Corbett hopes more people will write letters to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and copy them to McLeod.