2023Q1 Reports: ACL 2023

The full conference committee is in place, submissions closed recently, and all is on track for the conference.

One area of recent concern flagged by the PC Chairs is significant delays in getting appointments at Canadian embassies around the world to apply for visas, with long wait times in many countries meaning that many who need to apply for visas will not be able to get a visa in time for the conference. At the time of the venue selection, this was an area of particular concern that was raised with government authorities, and we were assured that processes would be put in place to expedite the processing of visa applications for conference attendees, but this does not extend to appointments at Canadian embassies. Historically, wait times were nothing like what they are at the moment, and the sincere hope is that this is a COVID-19 carryover effect (due to a backlog in visa processing, which was halted for a significant period of time), and that it will be possible to host conferences in Canada in the future without discriminating community members on the basis of their passport.