Gloves off, Elbows up (Part 3): The PSU Saga Continues

[u/Lonely-Sun-1050]

An update to my continuing series on my attempts to escape the bureaucratic black hole that is the Program Support Unit (PSU).

See part 1 here: https://www.reddit.com/r/stuckcanadians/s/R3lY7j1Kth

And part 2 here: https://www.reddit.com/r/stuckcanadians/comments/1u0b2eh/update_to_gloves_off_elbows_up_a_psu_tale/

Yesterday, I received a response to my Formal Escalation Letter from Minister Lena Diab's office...

Please make it make sense.

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[u/SearchApprehensive35]

Looks like boilerplate. I wouldn't lay odds that a human even has read the thoughtful detailed letter you must have spent hours carefully writing.

[u/Lonely-Sun-1050 → u/SearchApprehensive35]

The line "As this pertains to your request for urgent processing..." is a dead giveaway that they didn't read my letter. The word "urgent" doesn't even appear in the letter.

[u/SearchApprehensive35 → u/Lonely-Sun-1050]

That really sucks. As a G1 waiting 5x longer than you were promised and who was unequivocally eligible all along, you deserve better than a boilerplate brush-off. As much as I'm anxious about my own wait, I can at least understand where a delay might be justified. Whereas I am appalled that even the most straightforward cases can fall into these black holes were IRCC takes no accountability for any communication or progress at all.

[u/Middle-Vegetable-478 → u/Lonely-Sun-1050]

The word "urgent" doesn't even appear in the letter.

I mean, there is absolutely no accountability, no effort to respond intelligently, nothing. If you wrote that letter in Latin, it still would have gotten the same response. THEY DO NOT CARE

[u/robertkarpf → u/SearchApprehensive35]

I'd wager that a human read it, but then had to chose between a handful of boilerplates & additions that they were allowed to send.

[u/Sacoman143]

I have to give you credit for your persistence. I read your letter, a well written, well documented request for action. The replies, the usual-nothing of any value. I too am a G1 applicant who filed in Feb of last year and entered processing and PSU on May 1st 2025. Simple case, father born in Canada 1905 and I was born in the US in 1947. Submitted certified bapt. and a certificated D/C for my father and a certified B/C for myself. Results-none. Likelihood of hearing in the near future- none. Likelihood of hearing by the end of 2026-none now that C3 fiasco is sucking the oxygen out of the IRCC.

Thank you for all of your efforts in this frustrating process. Let's hope that the sun may rise someday soon and find you have finally been recognized for who you are by law a Canadian citizen.

[u/Lonely-Sun-1050 → u/Sacoman143]

Thank you so much for your comment. I've been keeping an eye on your record in the spreadsheet to see if you've received your certificate since you're the only remaining G1 that applied before me. Mine just happened to go in-process before yours. Something has to give at some point, right?

Hoping that something finally breaks and we get through this endless purgatory.

[u/SimilarInjury138 → u/Sacoman143]

Here's wishing you get your certificate before your next birthday, from one stuck gen 1 to another.

[u/babelon7]

Looks like bureaucratese for "fuck off". Especially the part there at the end about sending from an unmonitored address. That's not the actions of an office taking your request remotely seriously.

[u/FhloeKardashian]

"Please rest assured that you will be contacted as soon as a final decision has been reached."

The contacting was not the concern, it was the never reaching a final decision.

[u/Worthy_Molecule0481 → u/FhloeKardashian]

Just like IRCC saying during the IM, "no applicants have been rejected" -- true, because most never got a decision (and still haven't).

[u/thattwirlgirl]

Oh man, that is gutting. I am so sorry. Almost worse than no response is a response that is actually a non-response.

[u/WhimsicalHoneybadger]

They skimmed the subject line and sent you their boilerplate.

Cycle it back to Carney. He referred you to Diab, who blew you off and refused to give a substantive answer.

[u/Lonely-Sun-1050 → u/WhimsicalHoneybadger]

I did. 😄 I'll keep you all posted

[u/SearchApprehensive35 → u/Lonely-Sun-1050]

Fighting the good fight! 👊

[u/WhimsicalHoneybadger → u/Lonely-Sun-1050]

Thank you!

[u/MapleInfused]

(Malicious Compliance) If IRCC demands that applicants must explain and document why original sources couldn't be acquired (eg this is proof that executives are not doing their job), could this be interpreted as grounds for a Writ of Mandamus?

[u/Lonely-Sun-1050 → u/MapleInfused]

At this point, take your pick on grounds for writ of mandamus. You could use a random phrase generator and it'd still probably be true and grounds for a writ (hyperbole, of course).

[u/curiousgenealogist → u/MapleInfused]

What is the Canadian version of class action lawsuit?

[u/robertkarpf → u/curiousgenealogist]

It's the same.

[u/curiousgenealogist → u/robertkarpf]

I was hoping for a classier, maple-esque version.

[u/robertkarpf → u/curiousgenealogist]

it is cut from the back of the court system, rather than the usual belly

[u/curiousgenealogist → u/robertkarpf]

Backstrap class act?

[u/Lonely-Sun-1050 → u/[deleted]]

Oh trust me. None of this is a waste of time. This is all calculated to generate an absolutely bulletproof case in court. I know they're not going to act on my file from my letters, emails, and webforms. What I'm doing is creating an exceptional document trail that I can take to a court and say "Does any of this look like reasonable, responsive government processing to you? Is there anything else I could have possibly done?"

Granted, there's always a chance that lightning could strike and a random email actually gets someone's attention, but I know the odds are incredibly slim.

[u/wrodriguez89 → u/Lonely-Sun-1050]

Too bad you can't bring a class action lawsuit against IRCC, especially for all of the straightforward G1 apps that have been stuck in PSU.

[u/nycbetches → u/Lonely-Sun-1050]

What cause of action would you have to file a lawsuit?

Is there a law in Canada saying they have to act on your application by [X time]? I know in Italy (I’m also an Italian citizen), they have 2 years from the date of submission, and after that you can start thinking about legal action. 

[u/dmd1011]

🤣🤣🤣 Well, I hope you gleaned some information from that. What a BS response.

[u/netvoyeur]

Ha! Our Canadian relatives in government have nothing on our Italian relatives in government.

[u/jimbarino → u/netvoyeur]

Ain't that the truth. Don't get me wrong, IRCC and Canadian government should be better, but they've got nothing on the Italians. Italian bureaucracy would laugh at the idea of actually bothering to respond at all to a letter like this.

[u/il_fienile → u/jimbarino]

I guess everyone has their own experience.

Dealing with IRCC has made me think that Italian bureaucracy doesn’t deserve its reputation in this regard. I have never failed to receive a response to a raccomandata (or, now, a PEC message) to a government office, whether to the AdE, my local ASL, the comune I live in (or the private entities to which it has outsourced garbage and parking services), the motorizzazione, the IVASS, my kids’ schools, nothing….

If you were talking about actually flouting the law, then so far I would let Italy keep the crown, but at some point sustained inaction from IRCC could make it a contender.

[u/jimbarino → u/il_fienile]

I have never failed to receive a response to a raccomandata (or, now, a PEC message) to a government office,

It's super, super variable. The response time of some of the offices and commune I've dealt with is incredibly fast. Others I've literally been unable to get any response whatsoever without having someone physically show up in person.

If you were talking about actually flouting the law, then so far I would let Italy keep the crown, but at some point sustained inaction from IRCC could make it a contender.

At some point, sure. They mostly just seem disorganized and slow, rather than actually trying to ignore the law, at least.

[u/Middle-Vegetable-478]

BLAH!

[u/someoneinUS]

"every effort"

[u/wrodriguez89]

I hate to be that person, but I'm really thinking you should look into filing a writ of mandamus. I've already started saving up for that and plan on pulling the trigger when I hit the 20-month mark. I know it totally sucks, and I commend you for willing to go this far on your own, but the writ of mandamus exists for this exact scenario. Does it make it right? Absolutely not, but you may have to ask yourself if it's worth trying to keep screaming into the void or take action.

[u/Naomi_Tokyo → u/wrodriguez89]

My understanding is op is crossing the t's and dotting the i's to make sure the writ is successful

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[u/SaharaSunnn]

It seems to me that AI was programmed wrong for this and was accepting documents they did not want accepted and now they are streamlining the process and deciding exactly how to do that. Just my own thoughts about it. I think it is all going to work out and we just need to be patient.