ICBC reopens licensing service in Surrey, B.C., as public service strike continues

Members of the British Columbia General Employees' Union picket outside an ICBC driver licensing office, in Surrey, B.C., Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

SURREY — The Insurance Corp. of British Columbia says it is reopening one of its driver licensing service centres in Surrey, B.C., after finding a way forward with the Labour Relations Board as a strike by unionized public service workers continues.

A statement from ICBC says licensing services at the Guildford Corporate Centre are set to reopen Saturday.

It says ICBC worked to ensure employees would have safe and reliable access to the building by applying for what it describes as a common site order.

The statement says the outcome ensures service for customers, despite picketing by members of the BC General Employees’ Union and Professional Employees’ Association as part of strike action that began earlier this week.

The president of the general employees union, Paul Finch, joined workers picketing outside a Finance Ministry office in Vancouver on Thursday, saying they would escalate job action in an effort to compel the province back to the bargaining table.

Premier David Eby told an unrelated news conference on Thursday that government workers did “very well” in the last round of negotiations, and the province is “just not able to do that this time” as it faces what he called “significant fiscal headwinds.”

The general employees union represents about 34,000 public service workers.

Finch has said they were seeking a four per cent wage increase in the first year of a new contract and 4.25 per cent in the second year, plus cost-of-living allowances.

The government has not said what it has offered the union.

Negotiations broke off in July.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2025.