Moderator's guide and recruitment screener for IRCC employee Anti-Racism qualitative research 2022-2023

January 25, 2023

Introduction, background and objectives

7 minutes

• Thank you for participating.
• Please have something to write and jot notes.
• Brief introduction of moderator and Pollara Strategic Insights
• Reference notetaker:
  • Session is not being recorded so this is needed for reporting
  • No one from IRCC is watching the groups nor will anyone from IRCC know who participated in the groups.
  • Emphasize confidentiality, anonymity of responses and how everything will be reported in aggregate

• Explain the main objective and expected outcome

  Following on Fall 2022 Anti-Racism Survey, employee focus groups held in 2021 and IRCC’s anti-racism commitments, objective is to walk away with an understanding of the current situation, but most importantly insights on what IRCC needs to focus on next to eliminate racism, both internally and client-facing, and to strengthen and enhance inclusion.

  • “One thing I’d like you to keep in mind during our discussions is that, when I refer to client-facing during our discussion, we are interested in hearing about where racism may impact what clients experience in their contact with IRCC, but also, if relevant, where it might impact how programs and services are designed and delivered.”
• What is a focus group?
  • This is not a seminar where we push information to you, it’s actually the opposite. We are here to learn from you, from your experiences and opinions and about your realities.
  • It’s a conversation, where we ask questions and let you tell us your point of view about different topics, and in this case, racism and discrimination at IRCC and its impacts on the workplace environment as well as on services and program delivery.
  • We will talk not only about what you have witnessed or experienced, but also we’ll focus on finding solutions.
• Explain moderator’s role
  • Emphasize third-party role, independent, unbiased
  • Keep the conversation on track, while ensuring everyone has an equal share of voice
  • Make sure we finish on time and ask clarifying questions...
• Explain participant’s role
  • Feel comfortable speaking, we want you to be open and honest.
  • Contribute to maintaining a safe and open space where everyone feels free to express themselves: no judgement, no wrong answers, just humans doing their best, individual experiences and opinions
  • Agree to disagree - always with respect for other people’s perspectives
  • Emphasize again how we protect the anonymity of their voices
• Rules and etiquette – using MS Teams
  • Two ways to request to speak
    • You may raise your hand physically
    • You may raise your hand through the MS Teams feature
  • Also, two ways to participate
    • Speaking
    • Through the chat box – if you feel more comfortable or if you want to react / add to any comment
      • You can either post a comment to everyone or if you prefer just post the comment to myself
• “If at any time you feel uncomfortable with the conversation, or you feel the need to take a break or leave, you may do so at any time. We don’t expect this to happen but please know that this is always an option.”
  • “When we confirmed your participation we sent you a list of resources and links that can aid you if you feel the need for counselling. If you don’t have those handy, let me know and I will forward them to you.”
• “Are there any questions before we begin?”

Ice breaking and building rapport

8 minutes

• Personal introduction of the moderator
• Each participant introduces themselves
  • First name, where they grew up, one thing you are most looking forward to in 2023
  • Role within IRCC, how many years with IRCC, and what do you like best about working for IRCC?

Exploring the nature and extent of the problem

40 minutes

• “I’d like to begin by getting a sense for what you feel is the nature and extent of the problem of racism at IRCC.”
• “On the paper in front of you, take a quick second to jot down a number on a 1 to 10 scale to indicate how much you feel racism is a problem at IRCC, where 1=not at all a problem and 10 = extremely problematic.”
• “Next I am going to give you 2 minutes to make a quick list of what you feel it is most important for us to know about racism at IRCC. Your list could include examples of the types of racism or racist incidences experienced, the impacts of racism, specifics of where the problem shows up most or least. Whatever comes to mind. Just take a few minutes to jot down what it is most important for us to know. Keep writing until I tell you time is up.”
• “Before we share, I do want to ask is that, throughout our discussion, while you are welcome to detail specifics of situations as that can help us understand the issue, but do not mention any names of people involved, out of respect for confidentiality of people who are not here as well.” Go round table and ask participants to simply read out what they wrote (moderator may ask a few clarifying questions)
• Based on what emerges and time available moderator will probe for specific examples and or details to elicit greater clarity on nature and extent of racism and its impacts on:
  • Hiring and employee retention
  • Day to day workplace environment, job satisfaction and employee mental health
  • Access to promotions, acting positions and other career advancement opportunities
  • Achieving representation of Black, Indigenous and racialized employees in middle management and senior leadership positions
  • Willingness to report racism incidents and impacts
  • Client service quality and client experience
  • Case processing and decision-making
  • Case processing systems and procedures
  • Issues specific to overseas staff, if any
• Moderator to work iteratively over the course of the research sessions, giving priority to examples that may help shed light on areas we've had less chance to explore previously with the goal of getting as complete a picture as possible by the end of the project
• Probe: “Has anyone had experience with reporting or escalating racism incidents at IRCC? This could be your own experience or that of someone close to you.”
  • “Without sharing information that you feel might compromise the identities of the people involved, would you be willing to share specifics of your experience with the reporting process? I’d be interested in learning from your experience of how it was reported and how that was handled?”
    • Probe/listen for:
      • How they learned/decided where and how to report
      • Considerations in deciding whether to report
      • To whom/what group within or external to IRCC did they report
      • How report was received
      • What happened next
      • How they felt about the outcome. What went well and what was missing?
• What do you think are the main barriers to reporting racism incidents?
• If relevant (as groups progress and if time allows), if any of the areas from the list below have not come up, ask:
  • “So far we’ve discussed examples of racism in several areas. Are any of you aware of incidents or impacts of racism in the following areas?” (read out areas that we are missing information on)
    • Hiring and employee retention
    • Day to day workplace environment, job satisfaction and employee mental health
    • Access to promotions, acting positions and other career advancement opportunities
    • Achieving representation of Black, Indigenous and racialized employees in middle management and senior leadership positions
    • Willingness to report racism incidents and impacts
    • Client service quality and client experience
    • Case processing and decision-making
    • Case processing systems and procedures
    • Issues specific to overseas staff, if any

Awareness and perceptions of Anti-Racism effort at IRCC

20 minutes

• “Are you aware of some of the anti-racism efforts that have been undertaken so far at IRCC? (By a show of hands, who feels they are not really aware of much? No judgement, this is just for me to get a sense for how well information is getting out.)”
• “What are some of the anti-racism efforts you are aware of?” (Have participants shout out what they have heard of)
• “Are any of these items mentioned surprising to any of you?”
  • Probe listen for:
    • Efforts some participants did not know about, if any
    • Efforts some participants find surprising because impressive/perceived as potentially impactful, if any.
• “Are any of these items mentioned of concern to you? Why?” (Probe/listen for perceived negative impacts of actions, if any)
• Ask participants to jot down on their private written notes page before sharing:
  • A. 1 to 6 scale number for how confident you are that IRCC is serious about tackling racism within the organization (1=not at all confident, 6=totally confident)
  • B. 1 to 6 scale number for how confident you are that IRCC wil succeed in combatting racism in the organization (1=not at all confident, 6=totally confident)
• Go round table and have participants share scores.
• Quick share of main reasons for high scores for low scores for each question.
• I’m curious, if, for the first question, I had asked you for separate scores for how serious you believe IRCC is about tackling racism internally versus client facing, would your scores have been different? Why?
• What about your confidence that IRCC will succeed in tackling racism internally versus client-facing. Would you have given different scores for those two questions? Why?

Brainstorming and prioritizing solutions

40 minutes

• We want to spend a little time talking about solutions, based on your knowledge of the organization and its realities.
• “If you were in charge of combating racism at IRCC, where would you start. What would be your first 2 or 3 actions, or the first 2 or 3 areas you would begin to work on?”
  • Moderator to probe on specifics to get participants to clarify their ideas where relevant.
  • If priorities mentioned relate primarily to either internal or client facing, probe:

“It seems your top priorities relate more to tackling racism internally/client facing. Why is that?”

Brainstorming exercise

Have a few participants share their thoughts to get ideas flowing. Then do a few sequential rounds for building ideas and specifics as follows...

Note for client – Our intention in this brainstorming exercise is to ensure we emerge from this project with some clear employee insight into what can and should be done to tackle racism from both internal (i.e., impacts on employees) and client facing (i.e., impacts on product and service delivery) perspectives. In order to achieve this, moderator will adapt the exercise from one group to the next based on group composition and priorities expressed by participants so as to ensure that we come away with ideas for tackling both types of impacts of racism. In some groups, this may involve doing the exercise twice, once for each type of impact. In others, we may prioritize one type of impact over the other based on time and what is most relevant given group composition.

• “So now, I want to continue this idea generation in a structured way. We’ll go around the screen and as I call on each of you, I want you to share whatever idea/solution/action step or communication that comes to mind, without censoring yourself. So even if it sound ridiculous to your or not doable, share it anyways because each idea may give the next person something to build on or add to…” (continue for 2-3 rounds until clarity/newness begins to fizzle).
• Check in for final ideas anyone might want to throw in: “Having heard all that, is there anything else that comes to mind for any of you, that you would really like to add?”
• “Are any of the ideas mentioned of concern to you? Why?” (Probe/listen for perceived negative impacts of actions, if any)
• End with priority takeaways: “To wrap up, we’ve heard lots of different ideas, solutions and priorities to combat racism at IRCC. Among all of those, what are the 3 most important things you would like to see happen, that would increase your confidence that racism will be effectively minimised/eliminated at IRCC?”Go round table to and have each participant share their top 3.

Return to the office/hybrid work environment

• If not already mentioned, probe for:
  • How the more widespread work from home has affected internal racism and its impacts if at all.
  • How participants feel about return to work from a perspective of racism.
  • What challenges do you think you’ll be faced with when it comes time to implement the new hybrid work environment model?
  • What sort of initiatives or mitigation strategies the Department could put in place to help (racialized) employees overcome these challenges and foster an inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone?
  • Do you have anything else you’d like to add about the return to the office?

Wrap-up

5 minutes

• (If time allows) “What is the final message you would like to leave with those responsible for combatting racism at IRCC?”
• Thank you for participating, and your support for this process.
• Explain next steps and remind participants of the resources available for counselling if needed.

Additional areas/questions to probe with relevant groups as time and discussion flow allow

Group 4 - Racialized Employees with Current or Past Experience in Foreign Postings (Non-exec)

• If relevant: Explore how and whether racism might be impacting case processing and decision making / existence of disparities between how this is done in different countries/regions

Group 5 - Executives with Current or Past Experience in Foreign Postings

• If relevant: Explore how and whether racism might be impacting case processing and decision making / existence of disparities between how this is done in different countries/regions

Recruitment screener

S1. Please specify your age group.

• Under 18 years
• 18 to 29 years
• 30 to 39 years
• 40 to 49 years
• 50 to 59 years
• 60 years and over
• Prefer not to say [Thank & Terminate]

S2. What is your gender? Gender refers to a social and personal identity and may be different than the person’s biological sex.

• Man
• Woman
• Another gender
• Prefer not to say [Thank & Terminate]

S3. Do you identify as an Indigenous person? For the purposes of this question, the term “Indigenous” should be understood to mean individuals who identify as First Nation, Inuk (Inuit), or Métis.

• Yes
• No
• Prefer not to say

[Show if S3=yes]

S3a. Please select all that apply.

• First Nation
• Inuk (Inuit)
• Métis
• Prefer not to say

S4. With which racial group(s) do you identify? Please select all that apply.

Race is a term used to classify people into groups based principally on physical traits such as skin colour. Racial categories are not based on science or biology, but on differences society has created, with significant consequences for people’s lives. Racial categories may vary over time and place and can overlap with ethnic, cultural or religious groupings.

• Arab
• Black
• Central Asian (e.g., Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan)
• Chinese
• East Asian
• Filipino
• Indigenous or Aboriginal
• Latin American
• South Asian (e.g., East Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan)
• Southeast Asian (e.g., Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Thai)
• West Asian (e.g., Iranian, Afghan)
• White
• Another racial group [Text box – Not mandatory]
• Prefer not to say [Exclusive] [Thank & Terminate]

S5. What is your religion? [Randomize]

• Buddhism
• Christianity
• Hinduism
• Judaism
• Islam
• Sikhism
• Traditional (North American Indigenous) spirituality
• Another religion and/or spiritual tradition [Anchor]
• No religion and secular perspectives [Anchor]
• Prefer not to say [Anchor]

S6. In which sector do you work?

• Afghanistan
• Corporate Services
• Digital strategy, services and innovation (DSSI)
• Executive
• Finance, Security and Administration (SDO)
• Operations (OPS)
• Settlement and Integration (SIS)
• Strategic and Program Policy (SPP)

[IF S6 = Afghanistan]

S6a. In which branch do you work?

• Office of the Assistant Deputy Minister, Afghanistan
• Integrated Planning and Coordination (IPC)
• Policy & Engagement (PEB)
• Prefer not to say

[IF S6 = Corporate services]

S6b. In which branch do you work?

• Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer and Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services
• Integrated Corporate Business (CPO)
• Enterprise Change and Learning Academy (ECLA)
• People Management Operations (PMO)
• Workforce and Workplace Management (WWM)
• Prefer not to say

[IF S6 = Digital strategy, services and innovation (DSSI)]

S6c. In which branch do you work?

• Office of the Chief Digital Officer (CDO) and Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Digital Strategy, Services and Innovation (DSSI)
• Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Assistant Deputy Minister, Digital Strategy, Service and Innovation (DSSI)
• Digital Strategy
• Enterprise Projects and Program Management Branch (EPPMB)
• IT Operations
• Program Design Authority
• Programme Delivery
• Transformation Office
• Prefer not to say

[IF S6 = Executive]

S6d. In which branch do you work?

• Office of the Deputy Minister & Office of the Associate Deputy Minister
• Office of the Executive Director and Senior General Counsel
• Office of the Chief Audit Executive (CAE)
• Anti-Racism Task Force
• Communications
• Office of Conflict Resolution
• Future of Work
• Prefer not to say

[IF S6 = Finance, security and administration (SDO)]

S6e. In which branch do you work?

• Office of the Assistant Deputy Minister, Finance, Security and Administration (SDO)
• Administration, Security & Accommodation (CSO)
• Financial Operations, Procurement & DCFO
• Financial Partnerships
• Financial Strategy & DCFO
• Prefer not to say

[IF S6 = Operations (OPS)]

S6f. In which branch do you work?

• Office of the Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations (OPS)
• Office of the Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations (OPS)
• Case Management
• Centralized Network
• Citizenship and Passport Programs (CPPB)
• Client Experience
• Digital Platform Modernization - Phase 3
• Domestic Network
• Immigration Program Guidance
• Integrity Risk Management
• International Network
• Litigation Management
• Migration Health
• Operational Planning and Performance
• Resettlement & Asylum Strategic Operations (RASO)
• Prefer not to say

[IF S6 = Settlement and integration (SIS)]

S6g. In which branch do you work?

• Office of the Assistant Deputy Minister, Settlement and Integration (SIS)
• Afghanistan Settlement
• Francophone Immigration
• Settlement and Integration Policy
• Settlement Network
• Prefer not to say

[IF S6 = Strategic and program policy (SPP)]

S6h. In which branch do you work?

• Office of the Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy (SPP)
• Office of the Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy (SPP)
• Office of the Chief Data Officer
• Admissibility
• Citizenship
• Immigration
• International and Intergovernmental Relations
• Refugee Affairs
• Research and Evaluation
• Strategic Policy and Planning
• Prefer not to say

S7. And where is your worksite?

• National Headquarters (NHQ)
• Regional office in Canada
• Mission outside of Canada

[IF S7 = Mission outside of Canada]

S7a. Are you overseas locally engaged staff (LES)?

• Yes
• No

[IF S7 = Mission outside of Canada]

S7b. Where are you assigned?

• Latin America and Caribbean
• Middle East
• North Asia
• Northern Europe
• South Asia
• South East Asia and Oceania
• Southern Europe and the Magreb
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• United States
• Prefer not to say

[IF S7= Regional office in Canada]

S7c. In which province or territory is your worksite located?

• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Manitoba
• New Brunswick
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Northwest Territories
• Nova Scotia
• Nunavut
• Ontario
• Prince Edward Island
• Quebec
• Saskatchewan
• Yukon

S8. How long have you been employed with IRCC?

• Less than 1 year
• 1 – 2 years
• 3 – 5 years
• 6 – 10 years
• More than 10 years

S9. What is your current position?

• Executive
• Manager/Team Lead/Supervisor
• Employee
• Prefer not to say

[IF S9 = Manager/team lead/supervisor]

S9a. Do you have supervisory responsibilities like hiring, promoting and conducting performance reviews?

• Yes
• No

S10. What is your occupational group and level?

Occupational Group

Level

S11. What is your employment status?

• Indeterminate
• Term of more than six months
• Term of six months or less
• Student
• Seasonal
• Casual
• As Required/On Call
• Prefer not to say

S12. In your current positions or in within the past 5 years at IRCC, have you ever held a role that involved any of the following:

Please select all that apply.

• Case-processing
• Direct client contact
• Designing case processing procedures/systems (AI)
• None of the above [Exclusive]

S13. Do you currently or have you within the past 5 years worked outside of Canada as an IRCC employee?

• Yes – I am/have had experience in a foreign post with the international network
• Yes – I have other experience with the international network
• No [Exclusive]

S14. Are you aware of any real or potential impacts of racism at IRCC?

• Yes – I am aware of real or potential impacts of racism in the workplace at IRCC
• Yes – I am aware of real or potential impacts of racism on service and program delivery at IRCC
• No [Exclusive]

[Show if S14=yes]

S14a. Do you personally know of any specific experiences (whether your own or a colleague’s) of reporting or escalating a racism-related issue?

• Yes – related to racism in the workplace
• Yes – related to the impact of racism on program and service delivery
• No [Exclusive]

S15. For the focus group discussion, please select the language(s) you would be most comfortable participating in:

• English
• French

S16. What time of day would you be available to attend a 90-120-minute online discussion? Please check all that apply.

• Morning (10AM - 12AM) (est)
• Afternoon (2PM – 4PM) (est)

S17. The group discussions and one-on-one interviews will take place between February 1^st and February 15^th, 2023. Are there any days of the week that do not work for you?

• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday
• Thursday
• Friday

S18. And finally, do you have access to technology that would allow you to participate in an online meeting?

• Yes, I have access to the Internet through a computer or phone
• No, but I have access to a phone and would be able to dial in
• Neither of the above