Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada Departmental Plan 2021-2022

ISSN: 2371-8102

Table of contents

• From the Minister
• Plans at a glance
• Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks
  • Core Responsibility 1: Visitors, International Students and Temporary Workers
  • Core Responsibility 2: Immigrant and Refugee Selection and Integration
  • Core Responsibility 3: Citizenship and Passports
  • Internal Services: planned results
• Spending and human resources
  • Planned spending
  • Planned human resources
  • Estimates by vote
  • Future-oriented condensed statement of operations
• Corporate information
  • Organizational profile
  • Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do
  • Operating context
  • Reporting framework
• Supporting information on the program inventory
• Supplementary information tables
• Federal tax expenditures
• Organizational contact information
• Appendix: definitions

From the Minister

I am pleased to present the 2021–22 Departmental Plan for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. This report outlines the Department’s plan to adapt to the new realities emerging from the global pandemic, and to support our country’s post-pandemic economic recovery through immigration.

Immigration remains key to our economy, our communities and our country. Even more than in previous times, the past year has made clear the tremendous contributions of immigrants, particularly those working on the front lines of the pandemic. In fact, about one quarter of Canada’s health-care workers are immigrants, and we are grateful for their commitment to keeping Canadians healthy and safe.

The impacts of COVID-19 have been profound. They have affected Canadians, travellers and those aiming to move to this country. At the Department, they have driven innovation and continue to inspire digital transformation to modernize how we operate our business processes.

Despite a rapidly changing environment, we have developed new approaches to serving clients and have continued to facilitate immigration, while maintaining the health and safety of Canadians. Many of the changes instituted as a result of the pandemic will serve us well in the future.

For example, applicants can now submit some documents virtually across more business lines, and those already in Canada and ready to become permanent residents can be landed without an in person interview. As well, candidates for citizenship can now participate in citizenship ceremonies virtually, and we are pleased to offer online citizenship testing for the first time.

In addition, our Passport Program continues to facilitate travel for Canadians and non-Canadians, including stateless permanent residents and protected persons. The program is also working to streamline its application and issuance process, and to set the stage for future digitization efforts.

The Department has also supported more settlement service providers in adapting their services to online and remote delivery, providing them with additional flexibility and funding stability to ensure they can deliver services remotely. The lessons we have learned will help to drive future innovations in the Settlement Program.

As the Government took protective steps in 2020 to limit the spread of COVID-19 by limiting travel, it also took a measured approach to support the Canadian economy and family reunification by allowing entry, in a staged manner, to some travellers, including temporary foreign workers, international students and family members. We also developed facilitative measures to help some people in Canada to restore immigration status, and to assist workers needing to change jobs.

In addition, following on the Government’s commitment to address systemic racism in Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada launched several actions to address it in the Department’s programs, policies and service delivery.

As we look forward to the year ahead, we will continue to increase our digital services and transform the Department’s operations to be more efficient, flexible and secure, and to continue advancing annual immigration levels objectives.

The Government’s Immigration Levels Plan for 2021–2023 lays out a vision to increase our admissions annually over the next 3 years, resulting in a total increase in immigration of some 1.2 million newcomers. It also continues to make family reunification a priority, maintains Canada as a safe place for those fleeing conflict and persecution, and broadens economic pathways to permanent residence for refugees with the skills our economy needs.

In the year ahead, we will double down on our efforts to promote Francophone immigration, the vitality of Francophone Minority Communities outside Quebec and to support the successful integration and retention of French-speaking newcomers.

We will also continue to address regional and sectoral labour market needs through economic immigration initiatives such as the Atlantic Immigration Pilot, the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, the Agri-Food Pilot, the Caregivers Pilots, and the Municipal Nominee Program. I am confident that, even during these challenging times, such initiatives will help our immigration system to deliver labour force solutions to communities and sectors throughout the country.

Also, as the pandemic is not yet behind us, we will continue to monitor and adjust policies and measures relating to travel and border restrictions, in order to respond to changing conditions for refugees and asylum claimants who seek our protection.

The Department’s work is foundational to supporting Canada’s economic growth, to reuniting families and building our communities, and to meeting this country’s international humanitarian obligations. I have no doubt that, through hard work, our ability to be nimble and innovative, and our capacity to turn challenges into opportunities, the Department will continue to serve our clients and the country.

Together we will grow our economy and contribute to a diverse, inclusive and prosperous society for all Canadians.

Plans at a glance

Supporting the Government of Canada’s Response to the Pandemic

From border measures affecting the ability of foreign nationals to enter Canada to closed offices and the need for social distancing, COVID-19 has caused significant disruption to the work, and by extension the results, of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The entire Department has responded swiftly by introducing facilitative measures where possible and changing how it conducts business to adapt to the new realities emerging from the pandemic. Most lines of business at the onset of the pandemic were still paper-based, so processes were established to digitize intake and processes where possible. IRCC has worked to equip its workforce to work remotely. While border restrictions, physical distancing and lockdowns were put into place around the world, IRCC has developed public policies and operational guidance to provide flexibility for clients who could not travel or provide documents and requirements, such as medical examinations and biometrics, due to COVID-19. At the same time, IRCC prioritized clients who were essential to the health and agricultural sectors in Canada.

In 2021–22, the Department will continue to leverage and explore more efficient tools, leaner processes and improvements to its digital platform and services to more efficiently operate in a remote/virtual environment while continuing to provide high quality and support to clients through new and innovative means. This transformation, supported by change management centred on the organization, people and technology, will be key to achieving the admissions targets set out in the 2021–2023 Immigration Levels Plan and to supporting Canada’s post-pandemic economic recovery. The plan aims to welcome from 300,000 to 410,000 permanent residents in 2021, 320,000 to 420,000 in 2022 and 330,000 to 430,000 in 2023. It was developed with the goal of contributing to short-term economic growth and addressing labour market needs in different regions, continuing to support family reunification, defending those most at risk through refugee resettlement, and protecting the health, safety and security of Canadians.

Supporting Settlement and Resettlement Service Provider Organizations

Settlement Service Provider Organizations (SPOs) and Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) SPOs are facing new and complex challenges resulting from COVID-19. Given the importance of these services^{Footnote 1} in ensuring that newcomers have the support they need to establish themselves in Canada, feel welcome in their new Canadian community and are able to successfully integrate into the Canadian labour market and society, the Department has introduced new flexibilities and tools for SPOs and RAP SPOs to meet the needs of clients and ensure that essential services continue to be provided to them. In 2021–22, the Department remains committed to working with provinces and territories on a renewed focus for the delivery of high-quality settlement services, such as the employment-focused Visible Newcomer Women Pilot and Francophone integration pathway that supports the integration and retention of French-speaking newcomers across Canada, especially in Francophone minority communities.

Asylum and refugees in the context of border closures

Border closures have caused asylum volumes, including irregular migration to Canada, to decrease significantly in 2020. IRCC has introduced temporary public policies and facilitative measures aimed at ensuring that asylum claimants and Canadians alike are protected during the pandemic, such as additional supports for claimants where necessary and digitization of in-Canada claims. The Department will continue to monitor and make adjustments to these policies and measures where needed in 2021–22 to respond to changing conditions. IRCC will also work to advance reforms and investments in the capacity of the asylum system, collaborate with its partners both in Canada and internationally to discourage irregular migration, and continue working with the United States to improve the management of our shared border.

While resettlement did not stop, in 2021–22 the Department will work with its international and domestic partners to continue the resumption of more regularly paced refugee resettlement admissions as capacity increases and travel restrictions are lifted. The Department will continue to advance the plans for a dedicated stream intended to provide a safe haven for human rights defenders at risk across the world.

Addressing regional economic needs

In 2021–22, the Department will continue to develop and implement economic immigration pilots tailored to regional and sectoral labour market needs, such as the Atlantic Immigration Pilot, the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, the Municipal Nominee Program and the Agri-Food Pilot. These pilots will not only aid in Canada’s economic recovery, but also share the benefits of immigration across the country, especially outside major urban centres.

For more information on IRCC’s plans, priorities and planned results, see the “Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks” section of this report.

Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks

This section contains detailed information on the Department’s planned results and resources for each of its core responsibilities. It also contains information on key risks related to achieving those results.

Please note that most targets reflect those set from previous years as COVID-19 has introduced a complex and changing environment.

Core Responsibility 1: Visitors, International Students and Temporary Workers

Description

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) facilitates the entry of migrants who wish to come to Canada temporarily, while protecting the health, safety and security of Canadians. The Department works with partners to verify that individuals meet admissibility requirements. IRCC processes visas, electronic travel authorizations, and work and study permits for tourists, business travellers, international students and temporary workers, whose spending and presence in Canada benefit the economy.

Planning highlights

Departmental Result 1: Entry to Canada of eligible visitors, international students and temporary workers is facilitated

Facilitating entry during COVID-19

Since March 2020, COVID-19 has significantly impacted the ability of eligible visitors, international students and temporary workers to enter Canada. In the interest of public health and as part of a whole-of-government approach to combatting the pandemic, border measures were introduced by the Government of Canada in spring 2020 that prohibited most foreign nationals from entering into Canada.^{Footnote 2} However, from the onset of the pandemic, IRCC implemented facilitative measures to support international students, (including those already in Canada and those studying abroad), help reunite families, and support the entry of temporary foreign workers with job offers, especially those in essential services. Yet many visitors remain unable to travel to Canada and may be limited in their ability to do so for the foreseeable future. As of November 2020, travellers entering Canada by air must use the mobile app ArriveCAN to submit their travel plan and contact information, quarantine plan (unless exempted) and a COVID-19 symptom self-assessment.

The Department has introduced facilitative measures through targeted public policies to lessen the impacts from the pandemic on foreign nationals. Measures include biometrics exemptions for in-Canada foreign nationals applying for temporary residence and providing greater flexibility to foreign workers in Canada to change employers/occupations while waiting for a new work permit. Measures also include exempting some temporary foreign workers (TFWs) from biometrics enrollment overseas and, in some instances, collecting biometrics at select ports of entry for workers in key industries, such as the agriculture, agri-food and health care sectors, as well as trucking and transportation. IRCC continues to monitor the evolving situation and will continue to utilize mechanisms such as new or existing public policies, orders in council and interim orders as needed in 2021–22 and in keeping with the Government’s broader response to the pandemic.

The Department has faced significant disruptions to its processing ability and capacity resulting from the temporary closure of most of its domestic and international offices, the closure of offices of third party service providers, and the shift to remote processing. IRCC has prioritized its resources to focus on processing applications that are exempt from travel restrictions and fall into priority categories. Also, the Department implemented ministerial instructions requiring applicants to submit temporary resident applications online; this allowed the Department to receive and redistribute electronic applications for processing in other locations.

Digital services

The realities faced by visitors and the Department has highlighted the importance of continuing to develop leaner processes and digitally enabled approaches to more efficiently operate in a remote service delivery environment. IRCC has begun to implement various digital service enhancements, such as transitioning the Client Support Centre to a fully virtual operation and training agents to work remotely to deliver client support. It is also expanding its use of advanced analytics to help reduce application processing times, improve service delivery, improve program integrity and security, and enhance services offered to clients. These efforts will continue through 2021–22.

In 2021–22, the Department plans to continue working on the implementation of client-centric solutions and initiatives such as modernizing IRCC’s digital platform, developing a new MyAccount and transforming the visitor program’s processes and services to facilitate the entry of eligible visitors, international students and temporary workers to Canada, the settlement of newcomers, and continued protection of the safety and security of Canadians. In addition, it will allow IRCC to continue offering high quality digital services and align its operation with Government of Canada initiatives.

Planned Results

Financial, human resources and performance information for IRCC’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Departmental Result 2: Facilitation of temporary entry helps to generate economic benefits

Facilitating international student entry

COVID-19 restrictions have had a significant impact on the education sector and on initiatives that attract highly skilled temporary workers – these impacts are likely to continue into 2021–22. Recognizing that international students contribute significantly to Canada’s economy and support jobs across the country, in addition to contributing to Canada’s social and cultural fabric, IRCC introduced several facilitation measures. These measures included the extension of deadlines for biometrics enrollment, a greater flexibility in providing the documents required to finalize study permit applications, an extension of the period for restoration of status, flexibility around work authorization and off-campus work, and permission to travel to Canada for students attending a designated learning institution with a COVID-19 readiness plan in place that is approved by their respective provincial/territorial government.^{Footnote 5} They also included the implementation of a two-stage processing procedure for students, through which more than 64,000 clients received a letter attesting to a positive eligibility decision, allowing them to study virtually despite travel restrictions.

The Post Graduate Work Permit (PGWP) program provides international students in Canada the opportunity to obtain valuable Canadian work experience following graduation while providing employers with a pool of in-Canada job applicants that are exempt from labour market impact assessment. During the pandemic, IRCC introduced temporary policy changes to the PGWP Program to provide students with more flexibility, so that they are able to remain eligible for the program if they are studying online. In 2021–22, IRCC will continue considering opportunities to improve the program, in addition to reflecting on effective pathways for PGWP holders interested in an eventual transition to permanent residency.

In 2021–22, the Department plans to continue to advance the International Student Program based on lessons learned from COVID-19 facilitation measures. For example, IRCC plans to improve digital services by launching the dynamic e-application for all student programs. IRCC will also continue to explore ways to strengthen the integrity of the International Student Program through an implementation plan focused on compliance and verification activities, and securing stakeholder commitments.

Highly skilled workers

The Global Skills Strategy (GSS) helps Canadian businesses by making it quicker and easier to attract global talent. The GSS provides short-term work permit exemptions and faster processing for certain highly skilled workers, while also offering enhanced services to employers through a dedicated channel. The pandemic has affected the processing of GSS applications, and IRCC is working to bring processing back to service standards. In 2021–22, the findings of an internal evaluation of the Strategy will be used to assess the extent to which it is meeting the needs of Canadian employers and applicants. The Department will also continue to identify new GSS referral partners while also supporting current partners through the dedicated service channel.

Youth mobility through International Experience Canada

The pandemic has had a significant impact on the International Experience Canada (IEC) program, affecting application processing, negotiations with other countries, promotion and engagement and, ultimately, the number of youth coming to Canada and Canadian youth traveling abroad. Despite these challenges, in June 2020 Canada signed an agreement with Andorra in the first-ever virtual signing ceremony of a youth mobility agreement. In addition, Canada signed a bilateral youth mobility agreement with Italy in December 2020. IRCC will continue to advance negotiations based on program and country partner negotiation capacity in 2021–22.

Planned Results

Financial, human resources and performance information for IRCC’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Gender-based analysis plus

IEC offers youth mobility opportunities abroad for Canadians in over 35 countries and territories. Promotional and engagement activities in 2021–22 will include initiatives directed at communities of interest, including: Indigenous youth; youth who identify as part of the LGBTQ2+ community; young women leaders; and disadvantaged youth. Going forward, IRCC will include annual review mechanisms in new agreements to address GBA+ issues, including those which may unfairly impact participation of certain groups.

For international students, a preliminary analysis of the Student Direct Stream (SDS) has identified that college level students had an advantage through the SDS due to its eligibility criteria and how the program is structured. To diversify the population of students who apply through this stream, IRCC will undertake a review to determine how it could amend the eligibility criteria to be more inclusive of students at varying levels of education. In addition, the SDS aims to diversify international students by encouraging students from French speaking countries, such as Senegal and Morocco, to study in Canada. We have seen a positive uptake of this stream by residents of these countries in 2019. As services resume globally, we anticipate seeing continued growth in applications received through this stream. A larger repository of applications will need to be received to determine whether we are achieving our objective in attracting more francophone students to Canada.

The Open Work Permit for Vulnerable Workers helps to facilitate temporary foreign workers in leaving abusive employment and gives them the ability to work for another employer, without compromising their authorization to work in Canada. The disaggregated data collected helps to uncover trends and mitigate any unintended barriers related to the GBA+ aspects of the measure, which could inform future program changes.

In 2021–22, IRCC will continue to take measures in temporary entry to help families. Many families were supported through exemptions to the travel restrictions. By making families a priority during COVID-19, the Department has provided support to vulnerable immigrants and Canadians by allowing them to seek help and assistance from out-of-country family members, as a priority.

United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

IRCC’s planned activities under its Visitors, International Students and Temporary Workers core responsibility support Canada’s efforts to address the 2030 Agenda for SDGs. The contribution of temporary foreign workers, especially in occupations relating to healthcare and the food supply chain, are important as Canada manages the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Canada welcomes newcomers who bring skills that the economy needs, and facilitates the entry of foreigners to visit or study in Canada through initiatives such as the International Student Program, Post Graduate Work Program, Global Skills Strategy, and International Experience Canada Program. These initiatives contribute to promoting inclusive and sustained economic growth, productive employment and decent work for all (SDG 8), and reducing inequality within and among countries (SDG 10).

Key risks

Shifts in priorities, program changes to address COVID-19 pressures while maintaining program integrity, and inventories are challenging the Department’s capacity to deliver.

From January 1, 2020 to October 2020, 1,181,786 electronic travel authorizations and visas were issued to visitors, international students and temporary workers, a decrease of approximately 77% from the same period in 2019.^{Footnote 7} To prepare for the anticipated return to growth in volumes, the Department is leveraging more effective tools, leaner processes, improvements to its digital platform and the redesign of digital program delivery models. The use of biometrics, e-applications, automated functionality and improvements to the digital platform will lead to the creation of simplified and streamlined systems to keep the Department flexible in an environment of evolving public health threats and unpredictability.

In 2021–22, a variety of activities are being undertaken, such as continuing visitor modernization initiatives, improving study permit processing services for international students, strengthening the design and integrity of the International Student Program, actively engaging with stakeholders on the COVID-19 situation and economic recovery initiatives, and conducting research projects focused on labour market outcomes of International Experience Canada (IEC) Program youth and participants. This will be achieved by enhancing efficiencies, continuing program integrity initiatives and working with partners at all levels.

Resources for this core responsibility are used to facilitate the entry of persons who wish to come to Canada temporarily, while protecting the health, safety and security of Canadians.

To do this, IRCC works with federal government partners to verify that individuals meet admissibility requirements. The Department also processes visas, eTAs and work and study permits for tourists, business travellers, international students and temporary workers, whose spending and presence in Canada benefit the economy.

The decrease in planned spending from 2021–22 to 2023–24 is mainly attributable to the fluctuations in funding profile of the non-salary envelope for time-bound funding for biometric screening in Canada’s immigration systems, whereas salary and full-time equivalent staff planned spending remains relatively stable across planned fiscal years.

Further details can be found in the “Spending and human resources” section of this report.

Financial, human resources and performance information for IRCC’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Core Responsibility 2: Immigrant and Refugee Selection and Integration

Description

IRCC facilitates the admission and economic and social integration of immigrants and refugees who intend to stay in Canada permanently, while protecting the health, safety and security of Canadians. The Department selects economic immigrant applicants to contribute to the Canadian economy, processes family member applicants to reunite families, and processes refugee and protected person applicants to provide a safe haven for those facing persecution. IRCC works with partners to verify that individuals meet admissibility requirements before they enter Canada. In order to support immigrants and refugees in integrating into Canadian society, IRCC offers a variety of settlement support services through a network of service providers.

Planning highlights

Departmental Result 3: Potential permanent residents are selected for immigration to Canada

Multi-year immigration levels plan

Due to global travel restrictions and capacity constraints resulting from COVID-19, the Department has experienced significant inventories and increased processing times for applications for permanent residency in 2020. To offset the impact of increased processing times in 2020 and achieve 2021 levels targets, IRCC has prioritized the following: processing of critical applications able to be assessed remotely; enhancing its digital services by introducing virtual landings for in-Canada applications including new digitization tools and pilots; and providing clients with extra flexibility for when and how they submit required documents and biometric information. IRCC has provided travel exemptions to clients who had a valid Confirmation of Permanent Residence prior to March 18, 2020, and has also worked with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to facilitate the entry of applicants with expired Confirmation of Permanent Residence, whenever possible. To do so, IRCC has set up a team to answer enquiries from clients, process letters of travel authorization, and put in place measures to extend medical results for low-risk clientele.

Nonetheless, a significant shortfall in permanent resident admissions for 2020 is expected. The 2021-2023 multi-year levels plan sets out an ambitious plan to overcome this shortfall and support Canada’s economic and social recovery following the pandemic. The plan aims to welcome from 300,000 to 410,000 permanent residents in 2021, 320,000 to 420,000 in 2022 and 330,000 to 430,000 in 2023. It was developed with the goal of contributing to short-term economic growth and addressing labour market needs in different regions, continuing to support family reunification, defending those most at risk through refugee resettlement, and protecting the health, safety and security of Canadians.

Francophone immigration to Canada outside Quebec

The Government recognizes that immigration is key to supporting the vitality of Francophone minority communities across the country and that it plays an important role in supporting and maintaining the bilingual nature of the country. In 2021–22, IRCC will continue to take actions along the entire continuum of immigration, from attraction to selection and retention of French-speaking immigrants outside of Quebec. To ensure success of the Francophone Immigration Strategy announced by the Minister in 2019, IRCC is developing an implementation plan to reach the 4.4% target of French-speaking immigrants by 2023. This implementation plan will complement actions already taken, such as providing additional points to French speaking and bilingual candidates under the Express Entry system, as announced by the Minister in October 2020.

The Department remains committed to offering consolidated and adapted settlement services delivered “by and for Francophones.” Through the Action Plan for Official Languages – 2018-2023: Investing in Our Future, the Department is investing $40.8 million over 5 years to enhance horizontal policy development and to support the Francophone Integration Pathway aimed at strengthening the capacity of Francophone service providers to adequately meet the needs of specific groups of the immigrant population, such as women, seniors and families.

Economic class

With almost 60% of the planned 300,000 to 410,000 admissions for 2021 to come from economic categories, the Department continues to explore and develop new approaches to select permanent residents in response to specific regional and labour sector needs. Pilots such as the Atlantic Immigration Pilot, the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, the Agri-Food Pilot and others have been adjusted to reflect the realities of the pandemic. The Municipal Nominee Program is being developed taking into account the capacity of settlement provider organizations and participating communities to meet the needs of the newcomers.

Most of the increase in planned immigration levels for 2021–23 will be allocated to economic immigration, including under the federal high-skilled category through Express Entry (EE), Canada’s online application management system, and the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). An evaluation of EE was published in 2020, which found that applicants through EE generally demonstrate high levels of labour market participation and employment income, and are working in their primary occupations. The Department is implementing an action plan to address the recommendations of the evaluation, namely monitoring the Comprehensive Ranking System, making improvements to the electronic application system, establishing a more systematic approach to managing integrity, and addressing certain gaps in information collection. Implementation of this action plan is expected to continue in 2021–22 and beyond. IRCC will continue to monitor and report EE results and engage with partners and stakeholders with the aim of ensuring that Canada continues to benefit from immigrants with high human capital, and the diverse skills and experience needed to grow our economy.

Family reunification

Family Class admission ranges for 2021 are from 15,000 to 24,000 parents and grandparents and from 61,000 to 81,000 spouses, partners and children, for a total of 76,000 to 105,000 Family Class admissions. To meet this goal, the Department will continue to develop and implement innovative measures to process Family Class applications, even while COVID-19 restrictions may continue to impact the Department’s normal operations. The Department will conduct an evaluation of the Family Reunification Program in 2021–22.

As part of the 2021 intake of parents and grandparents, the Department will receive up to 30,000 applications to the parents and grandparents stream. These applications will lead to admissions in future years. In response to the financial impacts the pandemic may have imposed on sponsors, in fall 2020 the Department introduced a temporary public policy to reduce the income requirement, for those who need to meet such a requirement, in the 2020 tax year for sponsors of parents and grandparents and other Family Class applicants. Sponsors will continue to benefit from this public policy in 2021.

In 2021–22, IRCC also plans to launch the digital transformation lab for the spousal sponsorship application process, which will enable IRCC to digitally intake and process the more than 70,000 spousal applications received annually. The digital intake of the application process will assist the Department in meeting its ambitious levels plan as well as improve client experience by allowing clients to electronically submit their application.

Refugees

The outbreak of COVID-19 has limited the capacity of the Department and its international referral partners in the area of refugee resettlement. Despite these challenges, Canada has been able to uphold its humanitarian tradition and commitment to resettlement by receiving a limited number of resettled refugees, including urgent protection cases, and those with family already in Canada. With the assistance of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), IRCC implemented additional pre-departure health services specific to COVID-19 under the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) for resettled refugees who qualify for an exemption to border restrictions, allowing IRCC to manage the risk of COVID-19, while continuing to resettle people fleeing persecution.

IRCC will continue to make every effort in cooperation with our international partners, such as the United Nations Refugee Agency and the IOM, as well as our domestic partners that include the sponsorship community, to facilitate the ongoing resettlement of refugees to Canada as travel restrictions are lifted and capacity increases.

The Department remains committed to advancing refugee initiatives and international commitments. Beginning in 2021, IRCC is planning to launch a new stream for up to 250 human rights defenders who are at risk. The total refugees and protected persons 2021admission range is from 39,500 to 62,000 admissions.

IRCC will also continue to implement the pledges presented to the Global Refugee Forum in December 2019 in terms of expanding refugee access to third-country solutions, a key objective of the Global Compact on Refugees.

All of these efforts align with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries.^{Footnote 8}

International Engagement and Leadership

Canada is recognized as a world leader on migration, refugee protection, and integration. IRCC’s international engagement with countries and international organizations bilaterally and multilaterally plays a key role in advancing Canada’s international migration and protection priorities.

In 2021–22, IRCC will continue to actively engage with its key multilateral and regional partners, including the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Network on Migration, the International Civil Organization (ICAO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), the Intergovernmental Consultations on Migration, Asylum and Refugees (IGC), and the Regional Conference on Migration (RCM). IRCC will particularly focus on working with member states to strengthen the governance practices of the IOM and the GFMD.

Seizing important leadership opportunities, IRCC will chair a number of key international fora and initiatives in the coming year. In 2021, IRCC, together with CBSA, will continue to chair the Migration Five (M5), an international forum of immigration and border security agencies from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. Canada’s engagement in this forum provides the opportunity to collaborate with key partners on efforts to improve the security and integrity of migration systems and enhance client service for travellers. Under this forum, IRCC will also continue its role as chair of the Travellers Experience Facilitation Working Group, which brings together Canadian and international representatives with a view of taking a comprehensive look at client experience across the traveller’s journey. In 2021–22, the working group will continue the development of a concept of operation for using digital travel credentials and will look to developing a retrospective of lessons learned about managing the traveller experience under COVID-19.

IRCC will continue to lead Canada’s co-chairmanship of the GFMD Working Group on Public Narratives on Migration, with a focus on the development and implementation of a global, multi-stakeholder, digital communications campaign to promote balanced and accurate narratives about migration. Further, in the coming year, Canada has offered to chair the Support Platform of the Comprehensive Regional Protection and Solutions Framework, (known as MIRPs by its Spanish acronym), providing an opportunity for Canada to demonstrate leadership on refugee and migrant protection issues in the hemisphere.

As a member of the newly-formed Group of Friends of the Quito Process, Canada, through Global Affairs Canada (GAC) in partnership with IRCC, will actively engage with partners in supporting the efforts of countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region, to promote coordinated and harmonized responses among countries being impacted by the Venezuelan refugee and migrant crisis.

Canada also accepted an invitation from the UN Network on Migration to act as a champion country of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. Over the next year, IRCC, in collaboration with GAC, will continue to work with counterparts in other countries, international organizations and domestic partners to advance the Compact’s objectives and principles. IRCC will actively participate in all follow-up and review processes of the Compact, including the upcoming International Migration Review Forum in 2022.

Bilaterally, IRCC will continue to engage with a wide range of countries on migration issues of common concern. Together with international partners and civil society, IRCC will also continue to support initiatives announced in July 2020 to assist key partner countries in improving migration and border management by combatting human trafficking and smuggling operations, as well as irregular migration. The Department will also continue efforts to share Canada’s experiences and expertise on migration policies and programs with other interested countries.

Asylum

Due to border closures, asylum volumes, including irregular migration at the Canada-U.S. border, have significantly decreased in 2020 compared to 2019. The pandemic has resulted in office closures, postponement of hearings, suspension of most removals, and canceled asylum appointments, all of which have contributed to growing backlogs for the in-Canada asylum system.

A wide range of temporary public policies and facilitative measures have been developed and implemented in response to the pandemic, ranging from exempting subsequent Immigration Medical Exams (IMEs) for low risk, eligible in-Canada protected persons and accompanying family members to allowing electronic refugee claims for in-Canada asylum claimants. Asylum claimants have also been provided with continued access to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), including coverage of tele-services and virtual appointments to facilitate access to health care (while in-person services are still available for essential or exceptional cases), accommodations, and financial supports in cases where they do not possess the means to self-isolate upon arrival. In recognition of the crucial role played by asylum claimants providing direct patient care in Canada's health-care sector during COVID-19, IRCC has introduced the Guardian Angels temporary special measure which provides these individuals with a pathway to permanent residency.

Work continues to advance reforms and investments in the capacity of the asylum system to maximize its efficiency, while also meeting Canada’s international legal obligations. Over the next two years, system enhancements to the asylum interoperability project to enable more efficient processing of asylum claims will continue to be developed and deployed. In 2021–22, IRCC will work with its partners both in Canada and internationally to support the ongoing implementation of the Border Enforcement Strategy and work with the United States to modernize the Safe Third Country Agreement. The Department will continue to proactively dispel misinformation and provide the facts about claiming asylum in Canada. In 2021–22, IRCC will also continue its contingency planning and close cooperation and engagement with the United States on issues related to our shared border and to co-fund projects in the Americas focused on promoting regular migration and deterring irregular migration, including through regional asylum capacity building.

Interim Federal Health Program

The Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) provides limited, temporary health-care coverage to protected persons, including resettled refugees, refugee claimants, victims of human trafficking, and certain persons detained under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act during their period of ineligibility for provincial or territorial health insurance. IRCC will continue investing in the IFHP to ensure that these vulnerable newcomers receive health-care coverage to address their essential medical needs, help to improve their overall health outcomes, facilitate their integration, and safeguard the health of Canadians. In 2021–22, the Department will continue the work started in 2020 on the modernization of the IFHP to remove administrative barriers and deliver enhanced services to IFHP health-care providers and beneficiaries. Ongoing work reviewing benefits available under the IFHP will ensure that refugees’ and asylum claimants’ distinct needs continue to be met.

Immigration consultants

The implementation of a new professional governance regime for immigration and citizenship consultants under the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act, as well as legislative amendments under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Citizenship Act, will bring strengthened government oversight, and new compliance and enforcement tools, into effect. These efforts will ultimately support the integrity of Canada’s immigration and citizenship system. In 2021–22, the Department expects appointments of Public Interest Directors to the board of a new College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants to be made, a new code of professional conduct to be published, and the opening of the College itself.

In addition, IRCC will continue to work in 2021–22 and beyond on full implementation of the new immigration consultant governance regime and compliance initiatives funded through Budget 2019. These include the completion of information technology projects and tools to support the compliance and enforcement parts of the initiative and finalization of regulations to support the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act and the establishment of a system of administrative penalties and consequences.

Planned Results

Financial, human resources and performance information for IRCC’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Departmental Result 4: Permanent residents are welcomed and benefit from settlement supports

Settlement programming

The successful settlement and integration of newcomers benefits Canada by building a more inclusive, diverse and productive nation. The Settlement Program and Resettlement Assistance Program provide newcomers with services that help them adapt to life in Canada, setting them on a path to integration and full citizenship. IRCC funds more than 500 service provider organizations to assist immigrants and refugees to overcome barriers specific to the newcomer experience, both prior to arrival and after landing in Canada.

Language training

Proficiency in English or French is foundational to successful settlement and integration; therefore, providing opportunities for newcomers to improve their language skills for living and working in Canada remains a priority for IRCC’s Settlement Program. Settlement language training and language assessments are delivered by a variety of service provider organizations across the country (outside of Quebec^{Footnote 11}) in classrooms, online or both.

The Department is committed to the provision of high quality, flexible and accessible language training services. As such, following the recently completed evaluation of language training services, in 2021–22, the Department will undertake a number of initiatives to improve program policy and design and service delivery with the goal to improve program outcomes. Furthermore, recognizing the unique challenges faced by some newcomers with complex needs, programming will focus on training and support for clients with low literacy and digital skills, leveraging approaches that improve learners’ outcomes. IRCC will also continue implementing language training services in support of the Francophone Integration Pathway as part of the Action Plan on Official Languages 2018–2023: Investing in our Future.

Employment-related Services

As part of IRCC’s Settlement Program, employment-related services provide newcomers, including refugees, with a better understanding of the Canadian workplace and help them overcome barriers in accessing the labour market. The Department works with several organizations across the country to provide services such as work placements, mentorships, preparation for licensure/certification, networking opportunities, job search skills, employment counselling and job matching services. In the context of the labour market impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, these services will continue to be a priority for the Department in 2021–22.

The Department will also continue to monitor the effectiveness of the Visible Minority Newcomer Women Pilot, which aims to allow equal opportunities and increase participation of visible minority newcomer women in the Canadian labour market. Findings from this pilot have indicated that newcomer women often focus on getting their family settled first, which may delay their entry into the workforce. Projects under the pilot aim to address this by providing visible minority newcomer women with client-centred supports and essential skills training (e.g., digital literacy) to help them build the confidence they need to meet workplace requirements. This is of particular importance during COVID-19 and in the recovery period that will follow. IRCC will continue to work on identifying practices that could be further tested or scaled up and offered on a permanent basis. The efforts undertaken through this pilot program continue to align with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.^{Footnote 12}

Support for resettled refugees

While the pandemic initially resulted in a decrease in the number of refugees being resettled to Canada, the Department remains committed to providing support to resettled refugees to help meet their immediate and essential needs, including income support for up to the first year in Canada, and for immediate and essential services. Supports are provided by the Resettlement Assistance Program for government-assisted refugees, by private sponsors for privately sponsored refugees, and in some cases by a combination of the two.

In 2021–22, the Department will continue to work with service provider organizations and sponsors to build and maintain sufficient capacity in Canada to meet the settlement needs of all resettled refugees, so that they can live safely and independently in Canadian society. IRCC will continue to work with service provider organizations to ensure ongoing critical resettlement and case management services for recent arrivals, and will continue to provide guidance regarding service delivery in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the outset of the pandemic, the Department opened new channels with service provider organizations in an effort to identify pressure points in service delivery, address critical needs (such as the provision of personal protective equipment needed for organization staff who were welcoming and serving refugees arriving in Canada) and share best practices across the network.

At the same time, IRCC also plans to conclude a review of services and service delivery for government-assisted refugees that will make recommendations to improve IRCC-funded services for this client group in their first year after arrival in Canada.

Service delivery improvements

Service Delivery Improvement (SDI) initiatives are aimed at testing new and innovative ways to improve the efficiency of settlement services and allows IRCC to strategically invest in projects that offer insights on program design improvements. In 2021–22, findings from SDI-funded projects on language training, employment-related services, services for French speaking newcomers, and services supporting social inclusion (focus on the integration of populations that may experience increased vulnerability and marginalization including women, youth, seniors, LGBTQ2 individuals, and newcomers with disabilities) will be collected and analyzed to inform future programming.

A SDI Expression of Interest process launched in October 2020 focused on supporting newcomers in pandemic recovery, service adaptations through use of technology, increased employer involvement, and supporting sector resilience and service providers’ capacity to address racism. Projects selected for funding will begin in fall 2021 and will continue to inform the Department’s understanding of the most effective and efficient interventions in addition to innovative approaches that may enhance outcomes for clients.

In 2021–22, IRCC will examine its settlement services and delivery towards being more client-driven, outcomes-focused, flexible and responsive, in light of the pandemic and the evolving social context of Canada. This will be achieved by engaging with our many partners and stakeholders to inform pandemic and post-pandemic policy development and program delivery. IRCC will also continue to collect information through the annual Newcomer Outcomes Survey to strengthen its evidence base and inform the effectiveness of settlement programming.

Planned Results

Financial, human resources and performance information for IRCC’s program inventory is available in the GC Infobase.

Departmental Result 5: Immigrants and refugees achieve economic independence and contribute to labour force growth

Regional labour force growth through immigration

Despite delays caused by the pandemic, the Department continues to develop and implement economic immigration pilots aimed at addressing specific regional and labour sector needs, and increasing retention of newcomers in those regions, while also supporting economic independence and offering tailored settlement services for immigrants.

In 2019, a ministerial mandate commitment was issued to develop a Municipal Nominee Program (MNP) to allow local communities, chambers of commerce and local labour councils to directly sponsor permanent immigrants. This commitment reflects the important role communities play in welcoming and retaining newcomers to Canada and responds to the unique demographic and labour market needs of different areas of the country. From June to September 2020, IRCC conducted in-depth consultations, including with Francophone organizations (PDF, 915 KB), via online surveys and roundtable sessions with stakeholders across Canada on immigration levels and the scope and objectives of the MNP. In 2021–22, IRCC will continue engagement with provinces and territories to develop program design and delivery options, including measures to support Francophone Minority Communities in attracting and retaining Francophone immigrants.

The Atlantic Immigration Pilot (AIP) was developed to attract and retain skilled immigrants to Atlantic Canada. Through the pilot, employers in Atlantic Canada help settle skilled immigrants and international graduates in the region to meet the long-term labour market needs of the Atlantic provinces. Throughout 2020, consultations with provinces were conducted toward regularizing the AIP as a permanent program with at least 5,000 dedicated admission spaces, to deliver on the Minister’s mandate commitment. The AIP will become a permanent program in Winter 2022, after the pilot phase is complete.

By the end of fiscal year 2020–21, the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot  will be launched in all 11 participating communities across Western Canada and Ontario^{Footnote 15} and several communities will have welcomed their first landings. The objective of the program is to encourage more newcomers to settle in smaller communities through tailored immigration programming based on local economic development priorities. In 2021–22, the Department will continue to monitor results, make targeted improvements where needed based on lessons learned, and address COVID-19-related impacts – keeping the pilot on track towards meeting its objective. The Department will also continue to provide immigration training and support to community partners through the Dedicated Service Channel, and work on customized settlement supports to help these newcomers successfully adapt to their new life in Canada.

Economic Mobility Pathways Project

At a virtual meeting of the Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement in June 2020, Canada reaffirmed its ongoing commitment to labour mobility for skilled refugees, by committing to admit up to 500 refugees over the next two years as part of the Economic Mobility Pathways Project. This project was launched in 2018 and provides administrative facilitation to help qualified refugees access Canada’s existing economic immigration pathways.

Based on lessons learned since the launch of this project, the Department will continue to address the multiple barriers faced by skilled refugees in their first country of asylum and will develop a hybrid refugee/economic model to encourage labour mobility for refugees.

Planned Results

Financial, human resources and performance information for IRCC’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Departmental Result 6: Immigrants and refugees feel part of and participate in Canadian society

Settlement services to support newcomer integration

IRCC-funded settlement services are in place to support immigrant and refugee engagement in their new communities. Going forward, services such as needs and assets assessment and referral services and information and orientation services will continue to direct newcomers to needed supports and services as well as provide them with information on a variety of topics. These topics include finding work in Canada, laws and responsibilities, rights and freedoms, community resources and involvement, and Canadian citizenship.

In 2021–22, community connections services will continue to support locally-based approaches that facilitate settlement and integration by addressing barriers and building welcoming and inclusive communities through activities such as conversation circles and education and learning activities for youth. These activities will be delivered virtually, as long as required, to respect evolving public health guidelines.

In 2021–22, the 13 Réseaux en immigration francophone (Francophone Immigration Networks) will continue to bring together a diverse array of partners to welcome and integrate French-speaking immigrants into Canada’s Francophone and Acadian communities. These Réseaux are located across Canada (except Quebec) and will continue to support efforts outlined in the Welcoming Francophone Communities initiative. The outcomes of this initiative, which was started in April 2020, will be evaluated by an external firm at the end of its three-year life cycle.

Planned Results

Financial, human resources and performance information for IRCC’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Gender-based analysis plus

In 2021–22, IRCC will continue using gender-based analysis plus to ensure inclusive outcomes for newcomers and refugees. For the Settlement Program, this is especially important during the pandemic, which has exacerbated existing inequalities and disproportionately impacted newcomers facing additional barriers.

IRCC recognizes that some migrant and refugee populations face multiple intersecting barriers based on factors such as age, language, race and gender; people may need tailored supports to enter the labour market. In 2021–22, IRCC will continue to support resources such as women’s only language programming, peer mentoring and child care services that have all been designed using GBA+ to improve economic opportunities for newcomers facing barriers. Additionally, IRCC will continue to deliver the Visible Minority Newcomer Women Pilot, which aims to increase participation of visible minority newcomer women in the Canadian labour market. Efforts undertaken through this pilot align with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.^{Footnote 20} They also contribute to the broader gender equality goal to eliminate gender-based violence and provide access to justice as outlined in Canada’s Gender Results Framework.

Caregiver programs have traditionally been pathways for immigration to Canada, where the majority of newcomers are women. Features of the most recent caregiver pilots, launched in 2019, test innovative approaches to addressing unique vulnerabilities and isolation associated with work in private households. Continued monitoring of the outcomes of the 2019 pilots will look for impacts of program changes on caregivers and their families, including GBA+ considerations.

Under Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-based Violence announced in 2017, IRCC is developing a strategy with settlement and anti-violence partner organizations. Gender-based Violence (GBV) has increased during the pandemic and IRCC has taken a number of steps to address this issue, including supporting the GBV Partnership to increase the effectiveness of the settlement sector’s response to gender-based violence, engaging in consultation with the sector, and issuing guidance with resources. In 2021–22, IRCC will continue to work closely with other federal departments to include newcomer needs through horizontal initiatives on GBV as well as related issues such as food insecurity, housing, and mental health. Going forward, IRCC will emphasize capacity building for the settlement sector in collaboration with the anti-violence sector to strengthen programming and GBV resources. Initiatives for 2021–22 will also include training for front-line settlement workers to assist persons experiencing GBV and the collection of more robust data, including the start of race-based disaggregated data in the 2020 Newcomer Outcomes Survey. IRCC efforts to advance gender equality and address inequities, such as gender-based violence, align with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.^{Footnote 21} They also contribute to the broader gender equality goal to eliminate gender-based violence and provide access to justice as outlined in Canada’s Gender Results Framework.

Settlement programming aims to meet the needs of newcomers with disabilities, women, children and youth, seniors, refugees and LGBTI individuals. Settlement service providers have been expanding and customizing their services to address gaps and build on best practices for diverse populations. In 2021–22, IRCC will continue to prioritize a GBA+ approach to programming that promotes belonging and inclusion, which included analyzing how community connections services and other social-oriented programming can be tailored to meet diverse client needs on the basis of different intersecting identities, such as age, language, race and gender.

On the international scene, IRCC will continue to support a gender-responsive approach to the implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, including integrating and highlighting gender considerations in bilateral, regional, and multilateral discussions.

Experimentation

In 2021–22, IRCC will continue innovating and exploring new approaches in order to achieve the planned results for the core responsibility.

For the Settlement Program, an Expression of Interest process for new Service Delivery Improvement funding was launched in October 2020 with projects beginning in fall 2021. Funded projects will test new activities to inform evidence-based decision-making by IRCC on the future policy design of the Settlement Program.

IRCC will continue to work on implementing innovations in the immigration and asylum system. Initiatives include expanding the use of video conferencing technologies to continue processing applications during COVID-19, the digitization of paper-based files, the development of an online tool to submit refugee claims, and the creation of a new online process to land permanent residents.

The pandemic, and limitations on access to offices, have demonstrated the need for IRCC to move all lines of businesses into a digital world. The Department has already embarked on multiple digitization projects, and will continue to use innovative solutions to allow critical services to continue to be delivered to our clients.

United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Planned activities for 2021–22 under its Immigrant and Refugee Selection and Integration core responsibility support Canada’s efforts to address the 2030 Agenda for SDGs.

Canada considers migration to be a key element of domestic economic growth. The meaningful inclusion of migrants and refugees in Canada can boost innovation, respond to labour market needs, support economic and demographic growth and add valuable new perspectives to host societies. IRCC’s programs and initiatives will support Canada’s efforts to achieve gender equality (SDG 5), promote inclusive and sustained economic growth, productive employment and decent work for all (SDG 8), reduce inequality within and among countries (SDG 10), develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels (SDG 16) and encourage and promote effective public, public-private, and civil society partnerships (SDG 17).

Key risks

Long-term impacts of the pandemic continue to hinder the Department’s ability to meet mandate commitments and permanent resident admission targets. IRCC is responding with a renewed commitment to capacity-building and digital transformation to mitigate the impacts of COVID‑19 on the processing of applications. To do so, IRCC has responded with digital solutions and facilitative measures for clients, such as enhancing digital services that include virtual landings for in-Canada applicants, providing clients with flexibility in submitting biometrics and documents such as Immigration Medical Exams (IMEs) and proactive re-assessments of expiring IMEs.

Risk management in this complex and challenging environment remains an ongoing concern as services are moved online and employees work remotely. To uphold the integrity of the permanent resident programs, IRCC will continue in 2021–22 to develop new compliance measures. The Department will look at building its use of advanced analytics and machine learning to facilitate workload sharing and decrease processing times.

As future levels in permanent resident admissions increase, the Department must also make sufficient supports available to newcomers. The Department continues to collaborate with provinces and territories and others to advance the National Settlement and Integration Vision and support successful settlement, integration, and citizenship acquisition of permanent residents. Due to COVID-19, service providers were forced to transition from a primarily in-person service delivery model to offering most services online.

As the scale of irregular population flows is expected to continue growing, there is an ongoing risk of surges in asylum claim volumes in the coming years. Furthermore, difficulties in predicting future volumes of asylum claims are expected to persist. From January 1, 2020 to October 31, 2020, Canada received just over 21,300 asylum claims, a decrease of almost 60% compared to the same period in 2019.^{Footnote 22} In response to challenges caused by COVID-19, IRCC has introduced measures to the in-Canada asylum system through temporary public policies and facilitative measures. These measures, include accommodations and supports for asylum claimants without means to self-isolate upon arrival, in addition to continued access to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) for all claimants not covered by provincial or territorial health insurance. In 2021, IRCC will extend funding for the in-Canada asylum system to keep Canada’s asylum system fair and efficient.

The majority of funding allocated to this core responsibility is associated with grants and contributions, ranging between $1.691 billion in 2021–22 to $1.776 billion in 2023–24 (representing 68% to 80% of annual funding received for Immigrant and Refugee Selection and Integration in respective years). Funding for 2021–22 consists of $894.6 million for settlement support, $145.7 million for resettlement services, and $650.3 million for the grant relating to the Canada-Quebec Accord on Immigration. Funding increases in grants and contributions for future years are mainly associated with settlement support consistent with the multi-year immigration plans. The remainder of funds, ranging between $781.8 million in 2021–22 to $448.2 million in 2023–24, will be used to support IRCC’s operational requirements (32% to 20% of annual funding).

This includes support for interim federal health-care coverage for eligible recipients, including resettled refugees and asylum claimants, representing between $414.3 million in 2021–22, $498.7 million in 2022–23 and $87.5 million in 2023–24. The fluctuations in planned spending are mainly attributable to the sunset of incremental funding on March 31, 2023. The Department continues to assess the program’s forecasted demand in order to secure funding for the Interim Federal Health Program in future years.

Grants and contributions

To support immigrants’ and refugees’ integration into Canadian society and the economy, IRCC funds a variety of settlement support services through a network of organizations. Services offered by these organizations help improve immigrant and refugee official language abilities and help newcomers acquire knowledge and skills necessary to integrate into Canadian society and the labour market.

IRCC operational requirements

A portion of financial resources for this core responsibility is used for operational purposes in selecting economic immigrant applicants, processing family member applications to reunite families, and processing refugee and protected person applications to provide a safe haven for those facing persecution, while protecting the health, safety and security of Canadians. IRCC works with federal government security partners and third-party health professionals to verify that individuals meet admissibility requirements. These financial resources also include a special purpose allotment to fund temporary and limited health coverage for eligible recipients, including resettled refugees and asylum claimants.

Further details can be found in the “Spending and human resources” section of this report.

Financial, human resources and performance information for IRCC’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Core Responsibility 3: Citizenship and Passports

Description

IRCC promotes the rights and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship, and issues secure and internationally recognized Canadian citizenship and travel documents so that Canadians can participate fully in civic society and so that travel is facilitated across borders while contributing to international and domestic security.

Planning highlights

Departmental Result 7: Eligible permanent residents become Canadian citizens

Responding to citizenship challenges due to COVID-19

Despite the impacts of the pandemic on the Citizenship Program and to help mitigate the adverse impacts of COVID-19 on clients, the Department quickly pivoted from a mostly paper-based and in-person process to providing online services such as citizenship ceremonies, urgent interviews and hearings, the implementation of an online knowledge test and extensions for citizenship applicants to provide required documents. These new efforts came into effect between April and November 2020 and will remain part of the citizenship program delivery plan for as long as necessary, likely into 2021–22. Following COVID-19, the Department may maintain some of these alternate service delivery methods as part of its ongoing services to facilitate better access for applicants and improved client service.

The Department also remains dedicated to modernizing the Citizenship Program to better support eligible permanent residents in their journey to achieving Canadian citizenship. In 2020–21, electronic knowledge testing and e-applications were launched for the first time, in addition to the electronic administration of other elements of the Program. In 2021–22, the Department will continue to pursue digital solutions to improve processing, client services and overall system efficiency and integrity. This will include the ongoing update of the citizenship grant operating model and client service tools.

In 2021–22, IRCC will also continue to advance work on the mandate commitment to bring forward a plan to eliminate citizenship fees for those who have fulfilled the necessary requirements.

Oath of Citizenship and new citizenship guide

On October 22, 2020, legislation to amend the Oath of Citizenship was introduced in Parliament with Bill C-8 An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act to reflect Indigenous and treaty rights in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action #94. The Department will continue to support passage of Bill C-8 in 2021–22 to fulfill the Minister’s mandate letter commitment.

In 2020–21, the Department worked to revise the citizenship guide to be more reflective of the diversity of Canadian society. In particular, work has been done to include more Indigenous perspectives and history, and to make it more accessible to learners. In 2021–22, the Department will continue to engage stakeholders to finalize this new guide.

Citizenship Evaluation and Management Response Action Plan

In 2021–22, IRCC will continue to address the main recommendations and findings of the evaluation of the Citizenship Program (PDF, 1.28 MB), completed in 2020. Among the findings, the evaluation found a need to implement clear and transparent processes for assessing and waiving the citizenship knowledge and language requirements as well as recommending a review of the fee for affordability. The recommendations recognize how citizenship supports participation in Canadian society, the importance of equitable access to citizenship and the need to better support prospective applicants who may be facing barriers in accessing citizenship. The evaluation also recommended reviewing the objectives for citizenship promotion, as well as the development and implementation of a plan to better support achieving expected outcomes.

Planned Results

Financial, human resources and performance information for IRCC’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Departmental Result 8: Canadians’ international travel is facilitated

Passport services

The pandemic has made it clear that a modernized Passport Program designed for the needs of all clients, and updated digital platforms that provide efficiencies in delivering passport services, are essential to the future success of the program. The Department therefore remains committed to the modernization of the Passport Program through phased implementation of the Passport Program Modernization Initiative (PPMI), which was successfully deployed at IRCC and as pre-pilots at ESDC during summer 2020. Further deployment will advance in 2021–22. The PPMI will improve business processes and introduce a new domestic service delivery model to increase efficiency in application processing while responding to evolving global security requirements. Investment in digitization will also continue into 2021–22 with ongoing work to improve client communications and the ability to digitally capture client data through the pilot digital service channel, and further exploration of automated decision making in the Passport Program.

IRCC also remains committed to piloting innovative means of facilitating travel for Canadian passport holders. For example, the Department will continue its work with CBSA and Transport Canada to explore opportunities for developing, testing and piloting a digital travel credential that enables pre-authentication of travel and enhances pre-arrival screening benefits. Continued cooperation with international partners, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Air Transport Association, will be an important element of this work.

In 2021–22 IRCC will continue its plan to initiate the Passport Modernization Abroad Project to update services abroad and replace legacy systems. This will allow consistent access to passport and travel document services to Canadians who work, live or travel abroad.

Planned Results

Financial, human resources and performance information for IRCC’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Gender-based analysis plus

For the Citizenship program in 2021–22, IRCC will continue to make citizenship accessible to all who meet eligibility requirements, including vulnerable groups. The Citizenship Program uses different age-based requirements and different fees for naturalization to facilitate equitable access to minors and seniors. The Department collects data for citizenship program based on sex, date of birth (age), place of birth, official language results, citizenship test results, tax filing history, and linkages with permanent residence admissions data to undertake GBA+ analysis for the program performance and to reach better policy outcomes for vulnerable groups. For adult grant applications, data shows that women make up a larger proportion of citizenship applicants. The Citizenship Program is working on waivers, fees and language policy to give access to naturalization to all permanent residents including those with lower family incomes, basic official language skills and lower levels of formal education. The Citizenship Program uses the “X” gender identifier of applicants in all citizenship related application forms.

Experimentation

In 2021–22, IRCC will continue to innovate in order to achieve the planned results for the core responsibility.

For the Citizenship Program in 2020, the Department put in place an online platform for taking citizenship tests as well as a digital intake platform for e-applications. In 2021, IRCC will continue to increase the number of clients who are invited to take the online citizenship test and expand the criteria for those who are eligible to submit an e-application. Both the online knowledge test and the digital intake platform will evolve and improve in 2021 based on new insights from clients and employees.

The Digital Citizenship Grant Application is the first step towards an end-to-end digital citizenship grant process, and will allow for new citizenship applications to be processed electronically for the first time. Furthermore, the existing paper application will be improved in early 2021 to incorporate a 2D Barcode that can be scanned at our intake offices to electronically capture information from the application form and replaces the need for manual input of information by officers.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department has responded promptly by transitioning to digital and virtual processing, including the introduction of video oath ceremonies. An IRCC client satisfaction survey has shown that 98% of survey respondents are satisfied with the video oath ceremony and 95% said that the virtual ceremony was still special to them, despite not being in person. IRCC will continue to consider how to deliver in-person and video ceremonies going forward.

United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

IRCC’s planned activities under its Citizenship and Passports core responsibility support Canada’s efforts to address the 2030 Agenda for SDGs. Transforming and improving service delivery through the revised citizenship guide, Passport Program Modernization Initiative, and the Passport Modernization Abroad Project supports developing effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels (SDG 16). IRCC is committed to encouraging all permanent residents to acquire Canadian citizenship and benefit from permanently belonging in Canadian society, which underscores and supports the objectives of promoting inclusive and sustained economic growth, productive employment and decent work for all (SDG 8).

Key risks

As a result of higher demand for Canadian citizenship following changes to the Citizenship Act in 2017, IRCC is experiencing increased volumes of citizenship grant applications. With pre-existing backlogs and service reductions in the Citizenship Program, COVID-19 has exacerbated the program’s limited processing flexibility, thus increasing the urgency to move from paper-based to digital processing and virtual client services in order to improve IRCC’s capacity to deliver timely and dependable client-centered services. To address this, the Department will continue to modernize citizenship to adopt digital platforms, including citizenship grant operations, to improve processing efficiency and enhance client service.

IRCC is currently undertaking several key transformational projects, including the PPMI and the Passport Modernization Abroad Project, to improve and modernize the delivery of the Passport Program. Because several of these projects are led and managed across multiple federal government departments, effective coordination and collaboration among stakeholders is essential to their success. IRCC will continue to focus on risk management and its case management systems to meet the productivity requirements for passport issuance.

Funding for this core responsibility is used to promote the rights and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship, and to issue secure and internationally recognized Canadian citizenship and travel documents.

Citizenship funding

For the citizenship component, resources are mainly used for assessment activities, administration of tests, criminal record checks, activities to detect and prevent fraud, citizenship ceremonies and development of tools such as citizenship tests and guides. Citizenship planned spending from 2021–22 to 2023–24 ranges between $73.1 million to $75.1 million mainly to support increases in citizenship demand as a result of increases in immigration levels.

Funding Passport operations

IRCC collaborates with Service Canada and GAC to facilitate travel for Canadians and contribute to a safe and secure travel regime by issuing Canadian travel documents that are internationally recognized and respected.

The Passport Program operates on a full cost-recovery basis from fees charged for travel document services.

A reduction in revenues started in 2018–19 and is expected to continue until the first 10-year business cycle ends in 2022–23. Funding gaps ($167.4 million in 2021–22 and $34.7 million in 2022–23) are expected until demand for the Passport Program returns to higher levels at the beginning of the new cycle in 2023–24. As planned at the onset with a 10-year business cycle, accumulated surpluses in early years cover funding gaps in outer years. This will ensure that the Passport Program’s operations and modernization initiatives will continue to operate on a revenue-neutral basis.

The decrease in planned spending for the Passport Program between 2021–22 and 2022–23 is mainly attributable to a projected decrease in passport applications, as fewer Canadians are renewing their travel documents in the second half of the 2013–23 business cycle, resulting in a decrease in overall revenue for this program. The overall program planned spending for operating, investments and projects costs are fairly stable across all three fiscal years. As the pandemic situation continues to evolve, the program will continue to monitor the demand for travelling documents and will adjust its financial plans accordingly.

Further details can be found in the “Spending and human resources” section of this report.

Financial, human resources and performance information for IRCC’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Internal services: planned results

Description

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of Programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct services that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. These services are:

• Management and Oversight Services
• Communications Services
• Legal Services
• Human Resources Management Services
• Financial Management Services
• Information Management Services
• Information Technology Services
• Real Property Management Services
• Material Management Services
• Acquisition Management Services

Planning highlights

Client service excellence

Work force and workplace transformation

As with many organizations, IRCC has faced challenges brought on by the sudden need to adapt to a large proportion of the workforce working remotely. The Department has made significant progress towards enabling alternative work arrangements, such as teleworking and flexible work schedules in order to maintain work capacity during the pandemic. The Department will continue to leverage technology and adapt and transform internal processes to support remote work and minimize the impact on the delivery of services to clients. IRCC will also continue to educate employees across the Department on evolving security and privacy practices to ensure information continues to be transmitted safely and remain secure. Additionally, the Department will continue to work to ensure security and privacy are included in all programs, including in urgent COVID-19 related initiatives.

Looking forward, IRCC will continue to leverage its 2018–23 Strategic Accommodation Plan and its People Management Strategy to address continuing transformation and emerging departmental growth, to create a more modern and agile workplace and to attract a high-performing, adaptable and diverse work force.

IRCC is constantly working towards delivering world-class client experience while maintaining a high standard for program integrity across all lines of its business. In 2021–22, ongoing work to renew and reinforce information technology systems and digital platforms will continue with the aim of effectively providing services to millions of people in Canada and around the world while protecting the health, safety and security of all Canadians.

In 2021–22, IRCC will continue to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions from federal government facilities in order to meet the Government of Canada’s 40% reduction target by 2030 and 80% reduction target by 2050. IRCC will implement additional innovative departmental sustainable development activities such as disposing waste in an environmentally sound and secure manner; promote the reduction of unnecessary use of single-use plastics in government operations, events and meetings, and explore alternative sustainable plastic products. IRCC will also reduce its vehicle fleet. IRCC’s sustainability activities continue to be aligned with the environmentally-focused 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development (PDF, 369 KB). For more information on our sustainable commitments and targets, please visit our 2020-2023 Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy.

Throughout 2021–22, in response to COVID-19, IRCC will continue to implement and modify workplace safety measures as prescribed by public health and Public Services and Procurement Canada. IRCC’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Team will continue to provide an ongoing responsive stance to the COVID-19 pandemic while advising and preparing the Department for a post-pandemic workplace. This includes, but is not limited to, the implementation of physical distancing protocols, plexiglass barriers for client-facing operations, and enhanced cleaning protocols. Furthermore, IRCC continues to work closely with Public Services and Procurement Canada to develop and execute office projects that will align with workplace standards and post-COVID-19 office space design and needs. As part of the office retrofit construction projects for 2021–22, all floor space designs will include and meet the Accessible Canada Act building code requirements to allow for greater mobility and access.

Anti-racism

In June 2020, IRCC released an internal statement acknowledging systemic racism and offering support to those affected by racism within the Department and beyond. It outlined the Department’s commitment to working toward racial equity, listening and amplifying the voices of Black people, Indigenous Peoples and other racialized groups. The statement underscored that respect and inclusion are essential to IRCC. In July 2020, IRCC announced the creation of the Anti-Racism Task Force, meant to eliminate systemic racism in our policies, programs and service delivery. Internally, efforts were made to build trust with racialized employees by creating a structure of safe spaces for individuals to speak to their experiences with racism within the workplace without fear of reprisal. Leaders were invited to attend to gain a better understanding of issues concerning racism and discrimination within the Department at lower levels. In addition to this, the Department has begun reviewing its people management practices to ensure that Black, Indigenous and racialized people are treated equitably, respectfully, and that they are better represented across IRCC at all levels.

In 2021–22, IRCC will conduct a comprehensive assessment of systemic racism within the Department, which will result in a three-year strategy that will include actions to address systemic racism and metrics to track success. The Department will collect and analyze people management data through the annual Public Service Employee Survey, focus groups, disaggregated representation data and the anti-racism employee survey to assess its current state and to inform strategies with the aim of improving equitable people management outcomes. It will also build anti-racism capacity within leadership ranks by providing education through anti-racism coaching and training. The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on Canada’s immigration system and a disproportionate impact on racialized people, newcomers and marginalized populations. As the Department works towards achieving the admissions targets set out in the 2021–23 Immigration Levels Plan, it will also conduct an initial review of its programs, policies and practices through an anti-racism lens. This work will be grounded in data collection, in Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy and through the engagement of our partners and stakeholders to inform ways forward.

The Department makes investments in the necessary infrastructure required to effectively deploy programs and services, and ensure readiness for program growth. The planned spending in 2021–22 and 2022–23 includes significant information technology resources to support IRCC in stabilizing the Global Case Management System to set the foundation for future transformation and to support the implementation of the multi-year immigration levels plans.

The decrease in planned spending and human resources from 2022–23 to 2023–24 is mainly attributable to the sunset of funding to stabilize IRCC’s Global Case Management System to set the foundation for future transformation.

Further details can be found in the “Spending and human resources” section of this report.

Financial, human resources and performance information for IRCC’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of the Department’s planned spending and human resources for the next three consecutive fiscal years and compares planned spending for the upcoming year with the current and previous years’ actual spending.

Planned spending

Departmental spending 2018–19 to 2023–24

The following graph presents planned (voted and statutory) spending over time.

Departmental spending graph

Text version: Departmental spending graph

Planned human resources for Internal Services

Fiscal year	Total ($ millions)	Voted ($ millions)	Statutory ($ millions)
2018–19	2,404	2,338	66
2019–20	3,061	2,872	189
2020–21	3,451	3,228	223
2021–22	3,253	3,000	253
2022–23	3,269	3,148	122
2023–24	2,768	2,705	64

This graph represents actual spending incurred by the Department from 2018–19 to 2019–20 and planned spending from 2020–21 to 2023–24.

Budgetary planning summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services (dollars)

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned spending for each of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) core responsibilities and to Internal Services for the years relevant to the current planning year.

Total spending from 2018–19 to 2023–24 is influenced by several items, such as: the increase in permanent resident admissions and associated settlement and integration into Canadian society; the support of provinces and municipalities for temporary housing of asylum claimants; the provision of interim health coverage to refugees and asylum seekers; the increase in temporary resident volumes; and fluctuations in passport issuances over the 10-year business cycle for the Passport Program.

The decrease in resources from 2020–21 to 2021–22 is mainly attributable to the sunset of funding for the Interim Housing and Assistance Program and Budget 2019 initiatives for helping travellers visit Canada and improving immigration client service. The decrease was partially offset by additional resources for the Interim Federal Health Program to provide health care to refugees and asylum seekers, as well as for stabilizing IRCC’s Global Case Management System to set the foundation for future transformation.

The significant decrease in planned spending from 2022–23 to 2023–24 is mainly attributable to fluctuations in the funding profile for the Interim Federal Health Program and the Passport program, as well as to the sunset of funding to stabilize IRCC’s Global Case Management System to set the foundation for future transformation.

To support the delivery and compliance of the core business, continuous improvement investments in its information technology infrastructure, digitization agenda and business modernization are required to ensure IRCC operations meet all aspects of security, policy and legal requirements as well as uphold commitments made to the Department’s partners.

Visitors, international students and temporary workers

For the period covered by the Departmental Plan, the significant decrease for this core responsibility from 2021–22 to 2022–23 is mainly attributable to fluctuations in the funding profile for biometric screening in Canada’s immigration system, as well as for protecting temporary foreign workers initiatives.

Immigrant and refugee selection and integration

Variances in this core responsibility are mainly attributable to an increase in funding for the interim federal health program to provide health care to refugees and asylum seekers, as well as to support the implementation of the multi-year immigration levels plans, which aims to boost permanent resident admissions to 361,000 by 2022.

Citizenship and passports

Variances in this core responsibility are mainly attributable to the Passport Program which is currently in the second half of its 10-year business cycle where expected reductions in passport applications are occurring due primarily to the introduction of the 10-year passport in 2013, thereby reducing future revenues.

Internal Services

Variances in planned spending from 2022–23 to 2023–24 are mainly attributable to the sunset of funding to stabilize IRCC’s Global Case Management System to set the foundation for future transformation.

2021–22 Budgetary planned gross spending summary (dollars)

The following table reconciles gross planned spending with net planned spending for 2021–22.

Planned human resources

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned full-time equivalents (FTEs) for each core responsibility in IRCC’s departmental results framework and to Internal Services for the years relevant to the current planning year.

The significant fluctuations in the level of FTEs from 2018–19 to 2023–24 are mainly attributable to resources received through Budget 2019 announcements, such as enhancing the integrity of Canada’s borders and asylum system, improving immigration client service, helping travellers visit Canada, and implementing Canada’s International Education Strategy.

The decrease in the number of FTEs from 2020–21 to 2021–22 is mainly attributable to the sunset of funding for measures such as improving immigration client service and helping travellers visit Canada received through Budget 2019. The decrease is also attributable to fluctuations in the funding profile for enhancing the integrity of Canada’s borders and asylum system.

The decrease in the number of FTEs from 2022–23 to 2023–24 is mainly due to the sunset of funding for stabilizing IRCC’s Global Case Management System to set the foundation for future transformation, and fluctuations in the funding profile for enhancing Canada’s asylum system through Economic and Fiscal Snapshot 2020.

As necessary, the Department may realign FTEs to accommodate for those areas where pressures arise.

Estimates by vote

Information on IRCC’s organizational appropriations is available in the 2021–22 Main Estimates.

Future-oriented condensed statement of operations

The future‑oriented condensed statement of operations provides an overview of IRCC’s operations for 2020–21 to 2021–22.

The amounts for forecast and planned results in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The amounts for forecast and planned spending presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore differ.

A more detailed future‑oriented statement of operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations to the requested authorities, are available on IRCC’s website.

The decrease from 2020–21 to 2021–22 is mainly attributable to the sunset of funding as of March 31, 2021 for the Interim Housing and Assistance Program and Budget 2019 initiatives for helping travellers visit Canada and improving immigration client service. The decrease was offset by additional funding for the Interim Federal Health Program to provide health care to refugees and asylum seekers, as well as to stabilize IRCC’s Global Case Management System to set the foundation for future transformation.

Total revenues are expected to decrease by $29.2 million or 9.0 % in 2021–22 when compared to the forecast results of 2020–21, due to a decrease in the volume of passport applications over the next years.

Corporate information

Organizational profile

Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

“Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do” is available on Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) website.

For more information on the Department’s organizational mandate letter commitments, see the “Minister’s mandate letter”.

Operating context

Information on the operating context is available on IRCC’s website.

Reporting framework

IRCC’s approved Departmental Results Framework and Program inventory for 2021–22 are as follows:

Text version: Reporting framework

• Core Responsibility 1: Visitors, International Students and Temporary Workers
  • R1: Entry to Canada of eligible visitors, international students and temporary workers is facilitated
    • I 1. Total number of visas and electronic travel authorizations issued to visitors, international students and temporary workers
    • I 2. Percentage of visitor, international student and temporary worker applicants found inadmissible on health grounds and those who are authorized to enter with a condition on their visa related to health surveillance
    • I 3. Percentage of visitor, international student and temporary worker applicants found inadmissible on safety and security grounds
    • I 4. Percentage of visitor, international student and temporary worker applicants who report they were satisfied overall with the services they received
  • R2: Facilitation of temporary entry helps to generate economic benefits
    • I 5. Total monetary contribution of visitors and international students to Canada’s economy
    • I 6. Number of temporary workers who fill labour market needs for which Canadians are unavailable
• Core Responsibility 2: Immigrant and Refugee Selection and Integration
  • R3: Potential permanent residents are selected for immigration to Canada
    • I 7. Total number of permanent resident admissions, against the annual immigration levels plan
    • I 8. Percentage of permanent residents admitted to Canada, outside Quebec, who identify as French-speaking
    • I 9. Percentage of permanent resident applicants found inadmissible on health grounds and those who are permitted admission with a condition on their visa related to health surveillance
    • I 10. Percentage of permanent resident applicants found inadmissible on safety and security grounds
    • I 11. Percentage of permanent resident applicants who report they were satisfied overall with the services they received
  • R4: Permanent residents are welcomed and benefit from settlement supports
    • I 12. Percentage of Canadians who support the current level of immigration
    • I 13. Percentage of settlement clients who improved their official language skills
    • I 14. Percentage of settlement clients who acquired knowledge and skills to integrate into the Canadian labour market
  • R5: Immigrants and refugees achieve economic independence and contribute to labour force growth
    • I 15. Percentage of newcomers who are employed
    • I 16. Percentage of immigrants and refugees who are in the middle income range or above
    • I 17. Percentage of the Canadian labour force that is made up of immigrants and refugees
  • R6: Immigrants and refugees feel part of and participate in Canadian society
    • I 18. Percentage of immigrants and refugees that have a strong sense of belonging
    • I 19. Percentage of immigrants and refugees who volunteer in Canada
• Core Responsibility 3: Citizenship and Passports
  • R7: Eligible permanent residents become Canadian citizens
    • I 20. Percentage of permanent residents who become Canadian citizens
    • I 21. Percentage of citizenship applications that are processed within service standards
    • I 22. Percentage of citizenship applicants who report they were satisfied overall with the services they received
  • R8: Canadians’ international travel is facilitated
    • I 23. Percentage compliance of the Canadian passport with international standards
    • I 24. Percentage of passport applications that are processed within service standards
    • I 25. Percentage of passport applicants who report they were satisfied overall with the services they received

Program Inventory

• Core Responsibility 1: Visitors, International Students and Temporary Workers
  • Visitors
  • International Students
  • Temporary Workers
• Core Responsibility 2: Immigrant and Refugee Selection and Integration
  • Federal Economic Immigration
  • Regional Economic Immigration
  • Family Reunification
  • Humanitarian/Compassionate and Discretionary Immigration
  • Refugee Resettlement
  • Asylum
  • Settlement
• Core Responsibility 3: Citizenship and Passports
  • Citizenship
  • Passport
• Internal Services

Changes to the approved reporting framework since 2020–21

Supporting information on the program inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s website.

• Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy
• Details on transfer payment programs
• Gender-based analysis plus

Federal tax expenditures

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures that relate to its planned results for 2021–22.

Tax expenditures are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance, and the Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for government-wide tax expenditures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. This report provides detailed information on tax expenditures, including objectives, historical background and references to related federal spending programs, as well as evaluations, research papers and gender-based analysis. The tax measures presented in this report are solely the responsibility of the Minister of Finance.

Organizational contact information

Mailing address

365 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1L1
Canada
Telephone: 1-888-242-2100

Email: ParliamentaryReports-RapportsParlementaires@cic.gc.ca

Website: www.cic.gc.ca

Appendix: definitions

appropriation (crédit)

Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)

Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)

An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the Department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the Department seeks to contribute to or influence.

Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)

A report on the plans and expected performance of a department over a 3‑year period. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.

departmental priority (priorité ministérielle)

A plan or project that a department has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Departmental priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired departmental results.

departmental result (résultat ministériel)

A consequence or outcome that a department seeks to achieve. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.

departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)

A factor or variable that provides a valid and reliable means to measure or describe progress on a departmental result.

departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)

A framework that consists of the Department’s core responsibilities, departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

A report on a department’s actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.

experimentation (expérimentation)

The conducting of activities that seek to first explore, then test and compare, the effects and impacts of policies and interventions in order to inform evidence-based decision-making, and improve outcomes for Canadians, by learning what works and what doesn’t. Experimentation is related to, but distinct from innovation (the trying of new things), because it involves a rigorous comparison of results. For example, using a new website to communicate with Canadians can be an innovation; systematically testing the new website against existing outreach tools or an old website to see which one leads to more engagement, is experimentation.

full‑time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)

A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person‑year charge against a departmental budget. Full‑time equivalents are calculated as a ratio of assigned hours of work to scheduled hours of work. Scheduled hours of work are set out in collective agreements.

gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS+])

An analytical process used to assess how diverse groups of women, men and gender-diverse people experience policies, programs and services based on multiple factors including race, ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability.

government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2020–2021 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities refers to those high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the 2015 Speech from the Throne, namely: Growth for the Middle Class; Open and Transparent Government; A Clean Environment and a Strong Economy; Diversity is Canada's Strength; and Security and Opportunity.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)

An initiative in which two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

non‑budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)

Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.

performance (rendement)

What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)

A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an organization, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.

performance reporting (production de rapports sur le rendement)

The process of communicating evidence‑based performance information. Performance reporting supports decision-making, accountability and transparency.

plan (plan)

The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead up to the expected result.

planned spending (dépenses prévues)

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in the Main Estimates.

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

program (programme)

Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within the Department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)

Identifies all of the Department’s programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the Department’s core responsibilities and results.

result (résultat)

An external consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the organization’s influence.

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)

Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

strategic outcome (résultat stratégique)

A long-term and enduring benefit to Canadians that is linked to the organization’s mandate, vision and core functions.

target (cible)

A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées)

Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an Appropriation Act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.