This past Friday, October 27th, the AFC placed a temporary pause on new applications for emergency financial aid due to receiving an enormous number of submissions in the last few weeks. As you might imagine, demand for this program has increased several fold in recent months, leading to an administrative overload in processing requests for help.

Members who made an application with the AFC prior to October 27th, will have their request reviewed and processed as quickly as possible with current handling times running at approximately 4-6 weeks. Unfortunately, however, the AFC will not be accepting new applications for the time being as their team works diligently to clear the existing backlog. In the meantime, both the AFC's work on already submitted applications and the dispersal of funds for approved applications will continue. As of today, the AFC plans to provide a public update on the status of the application process in three weeks on November 20th. 

We know the team at the AFC are working tirelessly, under great pressure, in their efforts to clear this queue and return to normal operations - serving the needs of this community as they always have. In addition to DGC National's base annual contribution of $50,000 to the AFC, the National Executive Board approved an additional contribution of $100,000 to support our members during the strike. District Councils have made contributions as well. Obviously, this interruption may present an added hardship for some members already under great financial stress, but we know everyone at the AFC continues their work without delay to get help to those who need it and to do so as soon as possible.

For more information - and to receive an updates from the AFC directly - you can sign up for their newsletter at afchelps.ca/emergency-aid.