Consular services won’t be affected by Global Affairs Canada cuts: minister

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says budget cuts at Global Affairs Canada won’t affect the ability of Canadians in trouble abroad to get help from embassies.

Department officials say the cuts will involve moving some consular services to an online portal.

The recent federal budget includes a $561 million cut to the department’s budget next year, which increases to a $1.1 billion cut two years later.

The cut comes months after bureaucrats, citing costly evacuations from the Middle East, Sudan and Haiti, warned Anand that deteriorating stability worldwide is causing a massive expansion in the work required to protect Canadians abroad.

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In testimony before the House foreign affairs committee Thursday, Anand said she’s confident the cuts “will have no impact on the services on which Canadians rely while abroad,” or on trade outreach.

Departmental officials say finding savings has been a challenge but they will be cutting some consular assistance positions by “modernizing” service delivery and shifting less complex cases to an online portal.